Titan's Curse: Perlia Style
by SharkAttack719
Summary: What if Annabeth and Percy didn't have complete crushes on each other? AU. Percy falls for Thalia. Thalia falls for Percy. Next thing you know, they're on a quest to save Artemis and Annabeth. Perlia. Don't like it, don't read it. I suck at summaries just be warned. Rated T just in case. COMPLETE.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters.**

**WARNING! I HAVE LITTLE CREATIVITY! IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T READ IT!**

**Thanks for reading this. If you have any concerns please send me a private message or review it.**

**-SharkAttack719 out :)**

**Thalia's POV**

"Go Grover! Bring them to safety!"

"But you can't stay! I was ordered to bring you to camp safely!"

"I am at camp and for right now safe. Bring them to safety!"

Annabeth was crying. "Thalia. We need you, please don't leave."

I got sentimental...which rarely happens. "Come on Annie. I want you to stay safe. Luke will protect you. Always."

Luke led Annabeth away from the hill sprinting down to the big farmhouse. Both of them had tears in their eyes. My eyes got slightly watery. Tears dripped down my face. Grover hesitated, but eventually followed Luke and Annabeth. I faced the monsters heading up the hill.

I yelled, "Bring it on!"

I slashed my spear and stabbed. I brought the spear back, spun it in my hand, stabbed a monster trying to sneak up behind me and spun it back just in time to stab the dracaena in front of me. I hacked and stabbed, but there were just too many. Lord Hades really has it in for me doesn't he. At least I haven't been to many beaches in my life.

I reminisced over my life from the time where my mom yelled at me to my death now. She screamed how I was an incompetent little bitch. Then Dad came back, but was slightly different this time. Jason was born. My little baby brother got killed at the Wolf House at the age of two. I started crying as the monsters overwhelmed me. The pain seared through my body.

My life started flashing through my eyes, the time with Luke in Hal's house, finding Annabeth, meeting Hermes and May Castellan. I remembered that as I felt my body hardening. The monsters were wiped out with arrows. I saw a centaur that glanced at me one last time. I knew that was Chiron, the only civil centaur left. I smiled at him once before I fell asleep.

I slept for what felt like minutes. A couple minutes into my sleep I felt as if a charging bull slammed into me. A pain shot through the right side of my body. As quick as it came, the pain disappeared. After about half a minute later, the searing pain came back. It felt as if someone had injected me with poison.

Another minute passed and I woke up. I heard voices, especially this one that was right above me. He (I assumed he was a he) yelled at everyone to get some nectar and ambrosia. I coughed and opened my eyes. I stared into those mesmerizing sea-green eyes of his as he asked me a question. I still felt like dying was a dream. I remember clearly that it was the truth, but everything felt like a dream. I opened my mouth to answer.

**Percy's POV**

We galloped forward, everyone moving out of our way. There at the base of the tree, a girl was lying unconscious. Another girl in Greek armor was kneeling next to her.

"It healed the tree," Chiron said, his voice ragged. "And poison was not the only thing it purged."

I realized Annabeth wasn't the one lying on the ground. She was the one in armor, kneeling next to the unconscious girl. When Annabeth saw us, she ran to Chiron. "It... she ... just suddenly there …"

Her eyes were streaming with tears, but I still didn't understand. I was too freaked out to make sense of it all. I leaped off Chiron's back and ran toward the unconscious girl.

I knelt by her side. She had short black hair and cute freckles across her nose. She was built like a long-distance runner, lithe and strong, and she wore clothes that were somewhere between punk and Goth—a black T-shirt, black tattered jeans, and a leather jacket with buttons from a bunch of bands I'd never heard of.

She wasn't a camper. I didn't recognize her from any of the cabins. And yet I had the strangest feeling I'd seen her before...

"She needs nectar and ambrosia," I said. She was clearly a half-blood, whether she was a camper or not. I could sense that just from one touch. I didn't understand why everyone was acting so scared.

I took her by the shoulders and lifted her into sitting position, resting her head on my shoulder.

"Come on!" I yelled to the others. "What's wrong with you people? Let's get her to the Big House."

No one moved, not even Chiron. They were all too stunned.

Then the girl took a shaky breath. She coughed and opened her eyes.

Her irises were breathtakingly blue—electric blue.

The girl stared at me in bewilderment, shivering and wild-eyed. "Who—"

"I'm Percy," I said. "You're safe now."

"Strangest dream…Dying."

"No," I assured her. "You're okay. What's your name?"

That's when I knew. Even before she said it. The girl's blue eyes stared into mine, and I understood what the Golden Fleece quest had been about. The poisoning of the tree. Everything. Kronos had done it to bring another chess piece into play—_another chance to control the prophecy._

Even Chiron, Annabeth, and Grover, who should've been celebrating this moment, were too shocked, thinking about what it might mean for the future.

And I was holding someone who was destined to be my best friend, or possibly my worst enemy.

"I am Thalia," the girl said. "Daughter of Zeus."

**Thalia's POV**

Percy lifted me up and brought me to the infirmary. I could see Chiron, Grover and Annabeth. Annabeth's eyes were brimming with tears while Chiron and Grover's were wide with fear. What happened while I was gone?

"Annabeth," I shivered. "How...how old are you?"

"Thirteen, Thalia. Why?"

I smiled weakly, "I've been out of commission for six years? Get me patched back up so that I can get back in the fight with Luke and yourself."

Annabeth, Grover, Chiron and Percy's faces darkened. My smile quickly turned into a frown. "What's wrong?" I asked Percy.

He took a deep breath, "I know this is hard to believe, but Luke has gone to Kronos' side. He has become evil."

I shook my head. "No! That can't be true. Tell them Annabeth! Tell them what Luke was really like."

Annabeth's eyes filled even further with tears. "I'm sorry Thalia. Luke really has gone to Kronos' side."

I knew Annabeth harbored a crush on Luke. It must have been hard for her. I looked towards Percy. "You haven't actually seen him have you?"

Percy looked me sincerely in the eyes. "Unfortunately, we have. He said that you would be on his side. He said that because your father didn't care about you, you would go against the gods."

"I would never do that! How could Luke say that about me!" my disbelief quickly turned into rage. Why would my former brother say something like that? I cried into Percy. Luke, my brother and friend, had betrayed the gods.

Percy chuckled from above me. "Annabeth really knows you well."

I lifted my head up sniffling. "How so?"

"She said that you wouldn't go against the gods just because your father never cared about you," Percy responded.

"What about Amaltheia?"

"Amal-what?"

Percy is hilarious when he does that...and kind of cute. _Stupid teenage hormones._"Amaltheia. The goat that took care of Zeus when he was a baby."

"Oh."

Chiron finally intervened. "I suggest that Thalia rest for now and ease her way into camp. It will be best to retrain her with her spear and Aegis."

Percy shuddered, "Aegis is scary."

Annabeth, Grover and I looked at him. I asked, "You know about Aegis?"

"Saw it in a dream."

I tried to hide a smile and a blush. I've only been up for an hour and already I learn that people have dreamt about me.

"Oh."

"Alright children. It's best if we let Thalia here rest until she is ready to train. Go to bed," Chiron said.

Annabeth hugged me tightly. "Good night Thalia."

"Good night Annie," I teased. Annabeth gave me a mock glare before leaving to her cabin.

"Good night Thalia!" Grover hugged me.

"G'night Goat-Boy!"

Grover called as he exited, "Hey!"

Percy stood there uncomfortably for a minute. I looked anywhere except for him. If I did I would surely get lost in those eyes.

He stuck his hand out for a handshake. "Good night...Thals."

We smiled at each other. I grasped his hand and shook it. "Good night...who's your dad?"

"Poseidon."

"Good night Kelp-Head."

He smirked and patted my shoulder. "Get some good rest and I'll see you...along with Annabeth and Grover...tomorrow."

"Bye."

"See you."

Once Percy left, Chiron told me to get some rest. I got into one of the beds in the infirmary and slept a dreamless sleep, thinking about a certain black haired, green eyed, son of Poseidon.

**If there are any complaints or concerns, private message me or review this.**

**-SharkAttack719 out :)**


	2. Percy Ruins Everything

**Disclaimer: I do not own the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters.**

**WARNING! IF YOU DON'T LIKE IT, DON'T READ IT!**

**Thanks for reading this. If you have any concerns please send me a private message or review it.**

**-SharkAttack719 out :)**

Chapter 2: Percy Ruins Everything

**(AN: From now on, everything will be in Thalia's POV)**

Annabeth and I waited at this boarding school that we went to. Personally, I wasn't very interested in the school because it was an all-girls school. Honestly, I wished I went to Percy's school in Manhattan. At least there, I would be able to hang around guys. I can have guy friends if I want to! We were thinking about how to get into the school Grover sent the distress call from, without being noticed by the school monster. I proposed that I could use the Mist; Chiron taught it to me.

Percy's mom was going to drive Percy, Annabeth and I to this school in Maine where Grover sent a distress call. After 5 minutes of waiting, Percy's mom pulled up in front of our school.

It was a very long drive to Maine and it was snowing heavily. I was thinking about the mission too much and was too nervous to talk to Percy. I figured that this would be another boring trip. Fortunately for Annabeth and I, Percy's mom talks when she is nervous. Unlike most parents, Ms. Jackson was pretty cool. She didn't talk about boring stuff. No, she talked about Percy's embarrassing baby stories.

"...so that's how Percy ended up running along the beach naked." Ms. Jackson finished.

Percy was a fiery red and Annabeth and I were laughing our heads off.

"Good...good job Kelp-Head," I said in between laughs.

He blushed even redder...if that was possible. "Mom. Please stop with the..."

Ms. Jackson just started, "Oh! There was also the time when..."

By the time we got to Maine, I was pretty sure we knew every single one of Percy's baby stories. I contained myself. I was excited at the fact that I would be on a mission. I peered outside as I wiped the fog off the window. "Oh, yeah. This'll be fun."

I saw a giant military-like castle that must've been Westover Hall. I swear that any second the castle would make the cliff crumble, but miraculously, it never cracked. I glanced at Annabeth and Percy. Annabeth was looking nervous and Percy was leaning against her to see the castle. I tore my gaze away from them and looked at Percy's mom. Ms. Jackson stopped her car in front of the school.

"Are you sure you don't want me to wait?" she asked.

"It's okay Mom. We'll be safe and it could possibly take a little while," Percy tried assuring his mother.

"But how will you guys get back safely. I worried about you Percy."

A blush appeared on Percy's cheeks. Annabeth and I glanced at each other. Although we were trying not to laugh, I felt like we needed to aid Kelp Head on this one.

"It's okay, Ms. Jackson." Annabeth and I reassured Percy's mom.

"We'll keep him out of trouble," Annabeth smiled confidently.

I snickered, "If he doesn't run away from us."

Ms. Jackson sighed in relief. She knew how level headed Annabeth was. She also knew how good I was at fighting.

"All right, dears," Ms. Jackson said. "Do you have everything you need? Extra sweaters? My cell phone number?"

"Mom-"

I couldn't help but snicker at Percy. Not that I would admit it out loud, Percy looked kind of...cute, when he blushes.

"Your ambrosia and nectar? A golden drachma to contact camp in an emergency?"

"Mom! We'll be alright. Come on, girls."

Percy's mom looked a little hurt. I kind of envied Percy because he had such a caring mom. Oh well, I consider her a guardian anyways. I wished Ms. Jackson told us one more story about Percy as a baby. I would pay to see Percy bury himself in the snow and freeze himself. As soon as Percy's mother's car was out of sight I complimented Percy...or rather, his mother.

"Your mom is so cool, Percy." I smiled at him.

"She's pretty good," Percy shrugged. "What about your mom?"

He crossed the line there. I gave him my best evil glare. He withered under my gaze. Internally, I smirked. Nice to know I have that effect on him. "If that was your business, I swear-"

"Let's get inside!" Annabeth quickly intervened. "Grover will be waiting for us."

I switched my gaze from Percy to the castle. "Wonder what kind of demigod he found that he needs help with?"

Percy glanced at the dark towers of the school. "A powerful one, that's granted."

We walked into the school through the oak doors.

"Whoa!" Percy exclaimed.

The walls were lined with a whole bunch of historical weapons and battle flags. If Westover was a shrine to a god, this would definitely represent Ares. I knew that this was a military school, but seriously. This seemed like overkill.

I sensed something wrong with this place. There was definitely a monster here, but I couldn't pinpoint what it was. I glanced at Percy as he looked over to me. His right hand was in his pocket as I rubbed my bracelet. Riptide and Aegis, respectively.

"Where is-" Annabeth started.

The doors slammed shut behind us.

Percy mumbled something I couldn't pick up. I heard faint music that came from down the hall. It sounded like...dance music.

We placed our bags behind a pillar and out of sight. I started down the hall when footsteps echoed from our right. Out of the shadows, a man and woman stepped out to intercept us. They had short gray hair and black military-style uniforms with red trim. What seemed backwards to me was that the man was clean-shaven and the woman had a thin moustache. They both walked with the normal army-march-style as if they had their spines stretched out by Procrustes except that they were already six feet tall.

"What are you doing here?" the woman inquired.

"Um..." Percy started.

I shook my head. What about Annabeth? Athena always has a plan. This time, it's Thalia.

"Ma'am, we're just-"

"Ha!" the guys snapped, which made Percy and Annabeth jump. "Visitors are not allowed at the dance! You shall be ejected!"

To me, he had a French accent. I analyzed his face. He had a hawkish face and was very tall. His eyes were two different colors, one brown and one blue. I decided that this was an appropriate time. I hoped that neither one of them were monsters and stepped forward. I snapped my fingers and wind rippled from it.

"Oh, but we aren't visitors, sir," I said. "We go to school here. You remember: I'm Thalia. And this is Annabeth and Percy. We're in the eighth grade."

The male teacher hesitated and narrowed his eyes.

He glanced at the female teacher. "Ms. Gottschalk, do you know these students?"

I had to think of my mom to stop me from laughing. _Got Chalk? _I mentally laughed. Luckily the thoughts of my rude and inconsiderate mother stopped my body from shaking. I remembered what Percy asked outside. I would get him back for that.

Ms. Got-Chalk woken up from her 'trance' and replied, "Yes. Annabeth, Thalia, Percy. What are you doing away from the gym?"

I heard trotting footsteps and Grover ran up to us, out of breath. "There you guys are! You finally-Oh, Ms. Gottschalk. Dr. Thorn!"

He turned his attention to the teachers.

"Mr. Underwood. Finally..." Dr. Thorn prodded. It was clear in his voice that he hated Grover, but for what specific reason?

"I meant...uh...finally I found them! Yeah, they disappeared from the dance floor and I finally found them."

Dr. Thorn narrowed his eyes at Grover, glared at us and said, "Run along. Do not leave the gymnasium again!"

With a few "Yes, ma'ams" and "Yes, sirs" we parted. Grover ushered us towards the music.

Percy moved closer to me so that our arms touched. I involuntarily shivered. "How did you do that finger-snap thing?" he asked me.

I mentally grinned. This would be payback. On the outside, my face morphed to puzzlement. I moved closer to him and whispered, "The Mist? Chiron hasn't shown you how to do that?"

Percy moved away from me uncomfortably. _Boo-yea! Nailed him._

Grover quickly pushed us into the gym. As soon as we got in Grover, relieved, exclaimed happily, "You guys made it! Thank the gods. That was close."

Now in the safety of the gym, Annabeth and I hugged Grover. It was just like the time when I first purged from the tree. Grover had gotten a little taller since I last saw him.

Percy high-fived Grover. "So what's the emergency?"

"I found two."

I was surprised. "Two half-bloods? Here?"

Goat Boy nodded.

We were losing campers and there weren't that many demigods out there nowadays.

"A brother and a sister," Grover told us. "They're ten and twelve. I don't know who their parent is, but they smell strong. There is one monster here, but he is very intelligent. Unlike with most, he patiently waits until he is completely sure."

He turned to me. "I really need help! I don't know how to get to them without the monster being there."

"Are they here at the dance?" I asked.

"Yes." Grover answered.

"Then let's dance," I said.

Annabeth asked, "Who's the monster?"

Nervously, Grover confirmed my suspicions. "You just met him. The vice principal, Dr. Thorn."

_Aw, crap._

Grover led us around the gym so that we could get a clear view of the demigods.

"There they are. Bianca and Nico di Angelo." Grover pointed to two young children in the bleachers.

The girl wore a green hat that seemed to cover her face, albeit not very well. The boy, who was obviously her little brother shuffled something that looked like cards. They both had olive skin, dark brown eyes and dark black hair. There is something familiar about that face, but I can't exactly put my finger on it. The girl looked around her shoulders as if she knew what was going on around her.

Annabeth asked, "Do they know?"

Grover answered, "No. If they did, Dr. Thorn would've already killed them."

Percy nodded at Grover and spoke. "So let's grab them and get out of here."

Always the direct approach isn't it Kelp Head, I thought.

As he started forward, I reached out to grab his hand. He glanced back a little puzzled, but I nodded towards the door near the bleachers. Dr. Thorn was there. I immediately knew that he knew we were there for the di Angelo kids, but it never hurt to try.

"Don't look at the kids," I ordered. "Throw him off the scent."

"How?" Annabeth asked.

My expression grim, I told them, "Dancing."

The other three asked, perplexed, "Dancing?"

I nodded. I listened to the music and almost barfed. "Who chose the Jesse McCartney?"

Grover looked hurt. "I did."

"Oh my gods, Grover. That is so lame. Can't you play, like, Green Day or something?"

"Green who?"

"Never mind."

I glanced quickly at Annabeth. At the same time, Annabeth and I grabbed onto Grover's arms and said, "Let's dance."

Percy pouted at us, "What am I? Kelp?"

I laughed at Percy. "Exactly."

Annabeth dragged Grover and called back to us, "Get some medical aid for me when Grover starts kicking my shins."

Percy chuckled.

"What?" I asked him.

"Nothing. It's just funny to see my best friends dance." Then he frowned. "That sounds awkward. Especially because of the fact that Annabeth likes..."

I knew what he was talking about. It was pretty obvious Annabeth had a crush on Luke. I guess Percy had some feelings for her. I frowned a little. That thought hurt me, but I looked at Percy happily.

I don't know how old I was, but I was taller than Percy by an inch which was a little awkward. Percy had this mess of hair the covered his eyes a little bit.

"So..." Percy tried to break the silence. I could tell he was very uncomfortable. "How have things been going lately?"

I slumped my shoulders a little bit and told him about what I've been through at that boarding school of mine. I wasn't really devoted to telling him about it all and I could tell he wasn't really listening.

"Alright cool," Percy replied. "So you're going to stay there?"

I shrugged, "I'm probably going to go to camp...or there's this school in Manhattan I've taken a slight interest in."

I was going to say more...and tell Percy that Annabeth was thinking about joining the Hunters, but Annabeth intervened. "Dance, you guys! You look stupid standing there."

Percy nervously glanced at me, and then at the girls around the gym.

"Well..." I trailed off.

"Um, who should I ask?"

I rolled my eyes and stuck a finger into his gut. I zapped him slightly. "_Me,_Kelp Head."

"Oh, okay."

He seemed nervous. When I grasped his hand, I swear that I saw his cheeks go pink a little. As he held my waist, my stomach filled with butterflies. As we 'danced' around the room, I tried ignoring Percy and focusing on the important stuff. I tried keeping an eye on the di Angelo kids as well.

"You were going to say something?" Percy asked.

My face darkened a little. How was he going to react to this news?

"You know the Hunters of Artemis?"

He nodded.

"Well...They're gone!" I suddenly exclaimed.

Where the di Angelo kids used to be lay a pile of trading cards and a floppy green hat. I grabbed Percy's hand and dragged him through the crowd. I made sure Percy was still following when I let go of his hand. I ducked and weaved in between crowds. After about 5 minutes I reached Annabeth and Grover.

"They're gone!" I yelled at them.

A few heads turned our way, but I glared at them.

"Where's Percy?" Grover looked over my shoulder.

I froze and turned around. Percy wasn't trailing behind me. "He was there! I swear!"

Annabeth shook her head. "That Seaweed Brain! Sometimes that _boy_can be a nuisance."

"And you can see Percy's reaction to you becoming a Hunter when we save his butt! Where is he?" I looked around frantically.

Grover paused, "Wait, what? You're becoming a Hunter?"

Annabeth's face darkened, "Well...with everything about Luke..."

"You don't know about Percy's feelings towards you?" Grover practically yelled.

At that I felt a feeling that came from the pit of my stomach. Jealousy. _Stupid teenage hormones. Stupid Aphrodite. Stop messing with my head!_

"He what?"

"How would you feel if your brother left you for some eternal boys group?"

_Brother...phew._

"He would understand! Besides, as long as he doesn't fall in love with me..." Annabeth trailed off. "You don't-"

Grover yelped.

"Grover! What's wrong?" I asked.

"He's behind the school. He needs help!"

"Let's go!"

As we got outside, Annabeth made a plan. "Okay, I'll charge into them invisibly. When that happens, Grover you use your woodland magic and Thalia use Aegis and your spear."

"...And soon we shall have the most important monster of all-the one that shall bring about the downfall of Olympus!" Dr. Thorn exclaimed.

"What is he talking about?" I asked Grover.

"I have no clue," he responded.

Just then, an invisible force slammed into Percy and the di Angelos. I rubbed my bracelet and opened my collapsible Mace canister. Aegis appeared on my left arm and a huge spear appeared in my right hand. Dr. Thorn winced and growled when he saw my shield.

I moved in. "For Zeus!"

He kept shooting missile-like projectiles at me. The force of the impact knocked me down every time, but Grover helped by used some of his woodland magic. Grass broke through the snow and weeds wrapped around Dr. Thorn's legs. Dr. Thorn roared and turned to his true form.

"A manticore!" Annabeth exclaimed from the edge of the cliff.

"A manticore?" Nico gasped. "He's got three thousand attack power and plus five to saving throws!"

What in the world was that kid talking about? Dr. Thorn temporarily gave me a break and sent thorns sailing at the di Angelos. A helicopter was flying in the distance. It seemed to be getting closer. I wonder what it is doing?

I finished my break. The monster roared, "Yield!"

"Never!" I charged the monster. I thought to myself, _Yes! I got the monster now._

Out of nowhere, the helicopter zoomed out of the mist. It temporarily blinded me. Dr. Thorn swatted me away with his tail. Percy came over and blocked spikes before they could hit me. Then, a horn that I dreaded, blowed from the woods. The Hunters of Artemis were here.

A group of girls emerged from the woods.

"The Hunters!" Annabeth cried.

I recognized the pain across Percy's face as he realized what I was telling him earlier.

I grumbled, "Oh, wonderful."

I hate those hunters. Percy smiled at me.

One of the older archers stepped forward. She was of average height, had coppery colored skin and dark brown eyes. I recognized her. Zoe Nightshade. "Permission to kill, my lady?" she asked.

A young girl, about twelve years old with auburn hair tied in a ponytail and silvery-yellow eyes said, "Permission granted." The young girl is Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt.

Dr. Thorn made one last attempt at killing Percy and I, but Annabeth charged at the monster. She leaped onto the monster's back and drove her knife into his mane.

"Fire!" Zoe ordered.

The Hunters let go of their arrows. One arrow caught the manticore in the neck. Before anyone could react, he leapt over the edge into the darkness with Annabeth still on his back.

"Annabeth!" I cried out.

The helicopter started shooting at us. Artemis just stepped forwards and said, "Mortals are not allowed to witness my hunt."

The helicopter dispersed into a flock of ravens which flew into the night sky.

The Hunters came up to us.

When Zoe saw me she said, with distaste, "You."

My voice trembled with anger. "Zoe Nightshade. Perfect timing."

Zoe scanned the rest of us. "Four half-bloods and a satyr, my lady."

I called out, "You have to let us save Annabeth!"

Percy stared at me with tears in his eyes. "She's not there Thalia. I can't feel her presence."

Artemis turned towards us. "Correct, Percy Jackson. Your friend, unfortunately, is beyond help."

I hugged Percy and sobbed into his chest. I heard him faintly whisper, "All this time she wanted to be a Hunter. Why couldn't she just tell me?"

Percy got up and said to Zoe, who he obviously thought to be the leader of the group, and said, "Alright, you got rid of the monster. Let us go find her. She has to be here somewhere."

"You are in no condition to be hurling yourself off cliffs," Artemis said.

"I wasn't going to do that!" Percy exclaimed. "Who do you think you are?"

My jaw almost dropped at that. He had the nerve to do that!

Zoe went forward to smack him, but Artemis ordered, "No Zoe. He does not understand. He is just distraught by the loss of his friend."

As Artemis turned to Percy, recognition dawned on his face. Artemis told him, "I am Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt."

**If there are any complaints or concerns, private message me or review this.**

**-SharkAttack719 out :)**


	3. Bianca Makes A Horrible Decision

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**I will also be making two other stories along side this one.**

**One is a Pertemis FanFic and one is going to be about Percy/Zoe**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST.**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**Chapter 3: Bianca Makes A Horrible Decision**

When Artemis introduced herself, Percy made his trademark reply, "Um...okay."

The shock that was clearly registered on Percy's face was raised to it's maximum. I guess he was still shocked that Annabeth was gone. Although he knew it was Artemis, he acted as if it was shocking. When Grover realized that she was Artemis, his reaction almost made me die from laughter. I didn't show it on the outside, but I thought his reaction was extremely hilarious.

He gasped, dropped to the snow and bowed. "Thank you, Lady Artemis! You're so...you're so...Wow!"

Everyone turned towards him. Bianca and Nico stared at him like he was crazy.

Grover kept bowing for over a minute. In that time all you could hear was Grover blabbering, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

I decided to break the silence.

"Shut up, goat boy!" I snapped. "There are more important things to worry about. Ann-Annabeth is gone!"

I almost started crying again. Annabeth, the poor, innocent eight year old left in the alleyway and in the garbage can, was gone. I remember how she wielded a hammer and almost brained Luke. If Luke was Percy, he would be dead. Percy is extremely slow. I rolled my eyes. He's extremely slow athletically and thoughtfully. Seeing his head being smashed with a hammer would not be a pretty sight.

Wait... Why am I even thinking about that? I thought.

Bianca di Angelo halted everyone. "Whoa. Hold up. Time out."

Everybody turned towards her. She pointed to each and every one of us slowly as if she were trying to figure out who we were. "Who...who are you people? What is happening?"

I was irritated now. I'm not Annabeth. I can't deal with people asking such obvious questions. I have a short temper. I was about to retort when I caught Percy's eye. He was nodding at the Hunters. He was telling me to listen to what the Hunters had to say. Luckily for him, he never dealt with the Hunters before. Unluckily for him though, he has to deal with them now.

I couldn't help but stare at him. His messy hair was scattered all over his head. His bright sea-green eyes shined in the darkness of the night. His well-built, but slightly scrawny body standing out. I wrenched my gaze away from Percy and onto Artemis as she spoke.

Her expression softened. "My dear girl. I might be more fitting to ask who you are. Who are your parents?"

Bianca glanced at Nico who was mouthing words that didn't come out. I made out some words from his mouthing. He was saying something about, 'Goddess of the Hunt', '...thousand attack damage', and 'extra damage...bow and arrows'.

Bianca looked mournfully around at us. "Our parents are dead. We're orphans. There's a lawyer and a bank trust pays for our school and..."

She suddenly stopped. She probably saw our disbelieving gazes.

"What? I'm telling the truth!" Bianca exclaimed.

Zoe shook her head. "You are a half-blood. One of thy parents was mortal. The other was an Olympian."

There she goes with _thy._Even in the past years she hasn't learnt to speak modern English.

Under my breath, I muttered, "It's you. Not thy or thou. It's you."

If anyone heard, no one made any sign that they had noticed.

"Olympian...athlete?"

Ha! Olympian athlete. The only kids who could possibly be in the Olympics are Nike's, Ares' and Hermes'. The others...except for Poseidon...couldn't possibly have kids in the Olympics.

"No," Zoe replied. "One of the gods."

Nico excitedly replied, "Gods! Cool! Bianca, can you believe it! My Mythomagic card game _is_real."

"No!" Bianca hoarsely whispered. "This is not cool Nico!"

Nico didn't listen to his older sister. He pranced around as if he hadn't ever used a restroom in his life. "Does Zeus really have lightning bolts that do six hundred damage? Does he get extra movement points for-"

If the atmosphere wasn't so tense I swear that I would've rolled on the floor laughing. This kid was hilarious. Don't put me in a group with him though...he'd just annoy the hell out of me.

"Nico, shut up!" Bianca flushed, her face in embarrassment. "This isn't your stupid game! There are no gods!"

As much as I was distraught by Annabeth's disappearance, I couldn't help but feel sympathy towards Bianca. I would have been in that much denial if I lived for twelve years without learning that I was the child of a god.

"Bianca," I started. "I know it's hard to believe, but trust me, the gods are still around. Whenever they have kids with regular humans, kids like us, well...Our lives are as dangerous as they can get."

"Dangerous," Bianca said. "Like the girl who fell."

I hastily turned away. I caught Percy's eyes and his normal bright green shade became darker.

Artemis said, "Do not despair for Annabeth. She was a brave maiden. If she can be found, I shall find her."

Next to me, I heard Percy grumble, "And then she'll join the hunt."

That was pretty selfish of Annabeth. She may have lost Luke, but she still has Percy. Doesn't she like him back? Well...I guess considering she would rather dance with Grover, who would trip up everywhere he dances, she doesn't have feelings for him. Maybe I'm mistaken.

In a louder voice he asked, "Then why won't you let us go look for her?"

"She is gone. When I say gone, I mean completely gone. Some magic is at work and your friend could be anywhere in the world right now."

Personally, I still felt like finding Annabeth. I would never jump off a cliff though. One of my more embarrassing fears is my fear of heights. Nobody knew about this. Not even Annabeth or Luke. Thinking about it, being the daughter of Zeus and being afraid of heights was kind of silly.

Nico enthusiastically raised his hand. "What about Dr. Thorn? Is he dead? How much damage did you do to him?"

"He was a manticore," Artemis responded. "Hopefully he is gone for now, but monsters never really die. The re-form over time and they must be hunted whenever they reappear. However, I do not know how to answer your last question."

_Of course not,_I thought.

"Yeah. They must be hunted or they'll hunt us," I said.

Turning to his sister, Nico exclaimed, "I told you the bus driver had ram's horns!"

"And those guys who tried to attack us in the alley in DC last summer!" Bianca shivered.

"Exactly. That's why Grover has been watching you," Percy explained. "To keep you safe in case you turned out to be half-bloods."

Bianca stared incredulously at Grover. "You're a demigod, Grover?"

"Actually, I'm a satyr." He kicked off his shoes and showed them his goat hooves. If Bianca was freaked out a lot already, I can't imagine what she must be thinking right now.

"Grover! Put your shoes back on. You're freaking her out," I snapped.

"Hey, my hooves are clean!"

"Bianca," Percy reasoned. "We've come here to help you. You and Nico need training to survive. Dr. Thorn won't be the last monster you meet. You need to come to camp."

"Camp?" she asked.

"Camp Half-Blood," Percy said fondly. "It's where half-bloods learn to survive and stuff. You can join us, stay there year-round if you like."

Nico exclaimed a little too excitedly, "Sweet, let's go!"

"Wait," Bianca shook her head. "I don't-"

"There is another option," Zoe said.

_No, no, no, no! Not another stupid hunter._I glared at Zoe. "No, there isn't!"

She glared back at me. I don't need another Hunter to hate. Stupid Zoe, it's all her fault. I bet she influenced Annabeth as well. That lying, deceitful, treacherous...

"We've burdened these children enough," Artemis calmly announced. "Zoe, we will rest her for a few hours. Raise the tents, treat the wounded and retrieve our guests' belongings from the school."

"Yes, my lady." _Suck up,_I thought bitterly.

"Ah yes, and Bianca, come with me. I would like to speak with you." Artemis said.

"What about me?" Nico asked.

Artemis gave him a disapproving look. "Grover."

Grover perked up. "Would you kindly entertain Nico...as a favor to me?" Artemis offered.

Grover stumbled as he got up. "You bet! Come on, Nico!"

Satyrs. They fall in love with Artemis just because she likes the wild. That's like falling in love with someone who shares the same skills as you *mental cough*.

Grover and Nico walked into the woods talking about Nico's card game and other geeky stuff. Bianca and Artemis walked along the cliff and the Hunters began setting up their camp.

Zoe glared at me once more before going to get Nico and Bianca's things.

After she left, I stomped my foot in frustration. "The nerve of those Hunters! They think they're so...Argh!"

"I'm with you," Percy said. "I don't trust-"

I cut him off. I glared at him furiously. "So you're with me huh? What did you do back in the gym there Percy? Decide, _oh I'm going to be the hero_, and kill Dr. Thorn yourself? You knew he was a monster! Did you ever think that if we stuck together, we could've taken him on without having the Hunters get involved. Annabeth might still be here. Did you ever consider that?"

I felt sort of guilty, but Percy was the only one I could vent my anger off on. His jaw clenched. He looked as if he was going to retort, but he got side-tracked. He bent down and picked up Annabeth's New York Yankees baseball cap.

His fist clenched around the cap. "I'm going to find you, Annabeth. I know you're not gone. You're not dead. Never."

That last part sort of broke me. Annabeth was gone. As tears streamed down my cheeks, I wiped them off, turned and marched off, leaving Percy alone to mourn over his 'crush'.

I paced in the snow at the edge of the camp, walking among the wolves. Wolves didn't scare me so I didn't back away from them. Percy avoided me now, so I guess he was angry at me. I know I was a little harsh on him, but he deserved it. I stopped and looked back at Westover Hall. I reflected on these recent events.

Percy, not using the empty space that's in his head, just ran off to fight Dr. Thorn on his own. He just had to be the hero. Distastefully, I remembered the stories about my half-brother Hercules. Apparently, he was the greatest hero ever to live. I don't think so.

Although I hate Zoe, I feel pity that she met Hercules. _I beat Ladon! Oh I'm so great._Without Zoe's help, he would have been useless and probably killed. Percy is going to do that one day. Fall in love with Annabeth, lure her into his trap, become the hero and dump Annabeth away like a dirty piece of trash.

Love is stupid. Aphrodite is stupid. If love didn't exist, I would love everything. Great, now I'm thinking like a Hunter. I don't know why, but I seem to have some sort of pull towards Percy. As much as I don't want to admit it, I think I have a small crush on him. I mean, his sparkling green-eyes and messy black hair.

I ran my hands through my spiky black hair. Sometimes, things can get so confusing that my world can fall apart around me.

Percy likes Annabeth. There's no doubt about it. I guess that after two years they would like each other.

I heard Zoe asking for Percy to go to Artemis' tent. I wonder what Artemis wants from him.

I went back to thinking. When we get Annabeth back-and I know we will-I want to hear the stories of Percy and her. I blanched as a horrible thought hit me. Bianca was joining the Hunt. Annabeth would too!

I completely forgot about that. Annabeth would join the stupid Hunters and I would be displeased with her. Zoe would probably influence her to dislike me. I angrily paced around. Stupid Hunters, stupid Zoe, stupid everything!

I smirked. At least Percy would get arrows in his ass when the Hunters find out a man is crushing on one of their hunters.

I sighed. Although it would be fun to see Percy get throttled by the Hunters, I still felt pained.

I like him, but he doesn't like me. Oh, well. I guess that I just have to cope with that. Love can be a pain. Little did I know, I was completely wrong.

**Time Skip**

Percy walked out of the tent and walked towards us. Grover and I huddled around him. I was anxious to hear exactly what had happened in the audience with Artemis. I glanced over at Bianca. Her aura now glowed a slight silver and she wore the outfit of the Hunters. I looked down at Nico. _Poor kid. You got a sister who hates you. Oh, well. Percy will get used to your childish behavior._

"Who do you think Nico's parentage is?" I asked Grover.

"Like I've said before, I don't know, but it's strong," he replied.

"What kind of strong?"

"I don't know. Right now, it's weak."

"But you just said it was strong!" Percy exclaimed.

Grover continued as if Percy never interrupted. "But it seems like they are about three-quarters as strong as Percy when he didn't know."

"I've always wondered," Percy wondered. "what exactly do us demigods smell like to you satyrs?"

"Since you guys know your parentage, you smell like seaweed and fish. Thalia smells like the sky and," Grover sniffed around me which I found really awkward. "is that...ozone?"

"How can you smell ozone? Actually, what does ozone even smell like?" Percy asked.

"We're getting a little off topic here," I impatiently urged.

Percy rolled his eyes. It took all of my will to not stare at him. _Handsome..._I thought dreamily. Percy went back to talking about what happened in the tent.

"Well, it started with Artemis studying me. I was uncomfortable because she had such old eyes for a young girl," he started.

"Well, duh," I said. "She's a goddess. All gods and goddesses have old eyes."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Anyways, then she told me that she appears as the average age of her Hunters. She said that some Hunters go astray. During the entire time, Zoe kept staring at me distastefully. I didn't invent the idea of being a guy. It just...happened."

"They treat all guys like that," I added in.

"Then, she told me that all boys that saw the camp were turned into jackalopes...except for us. Then, she said she liked making jackalopes. That really freaked me out. She asked me for the story about what happened at Westover."

"Wouldn't she have already heard the story from Bianca?" Grover asked.

"I'm getting there," Percy said. "Artemis already heard it from Bianca, but she wanted my story because I already knew I was a demigod. After I told her my story, she said something about a scent and a monster. Then, when I told her about the General-"

"Who's the General?" Grover inquired.

"I don't know, but he's obviously on Kronos' side. Zoe paled and was about to say something to Artemis, but Artemis cut her off. After that, we started talking about the Great Stir Pot-"

"Great Stir Pot?" I asked.

"Oh right! The Great Stirring. Dr. Thorn had also said something about the downfall of Olympus. Do you know what that is?"

"Could be Typhon," I suggested.

"Typhon is still trapped under Mount St. Helens!" Grover exclaimed.

"It couldn't be that giant monster because Artemis said she was going to hunt the monster alone," Percy replied. "Also, do you guys think that Artemis is too serious?"

"Yes," I replied.

Grover was just staring straight ahead. There were no doubts that he was daydreaming.

"Well, I seem to think that she is humorous. She actually smiled."

"How?"

"Oh. I just asked, 'Can goddesses pray?' She smiled...but barely."

I half-heartedly smiled at him. "You can make anyone smile."

He stared into my eyes, but hastily pulled away and continued his story.

"She decided that the Hunters were to go to Camp Half-Blood. Then, Bianca was offered to join the Hunt. I protested all that I could, but she gave in at the end. After that, Artemis told me that we were going to meet her irresponsible twin, Apollo."

I nervously looked at Percy. "We're going to fly to camp?"

He nodded and I mentally paled. I pray to Zeus that I don't die! At least I get to meet Apollo. He's, dare I say it, hot. He may be hot, but I'm pretty sure Percy is hotter. Maybe with more exercise and muscles he could be as ripped as Hercules. And just before I fell into my own daydream, Grover woke from his.

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

******WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**


	4. I Almost Burn New England

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**I will also be making two other stories along side this one.**

**One is a Pertemis FanFic and one is going to be about Percy/Zoe**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST.**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**Chapter 4: I Almost Burn New England**

Grover woke up from his personal daydream about Artemis. He didn't hear the last part of what Percy told me about the Hunters coming to camp. Percy had to retell the last part of what Grover had missed. As Percy told Grover, I glanced around us.

The Hunters had already broke camp and were talking amongst each other. Bianca was still telling Nico about her decision to join the Hunt. I couldn't help thinking how selfish it was of her, abandoning her brother like that.

When Percy finished retelling the part Grover missed, Grover turned pale. "The last time the Hunters visited camp, it didn't go so well."

I warily asked, "What happened?"

Grover grimaced. "You'll find out."

"They burned down the cabins," Percy responded giving Grover a look.

I considered this for a while before Percy wondered aloud, "How'd they even show up here? I mean, they just appeared out of nowhere."

"Not exactly out of nowhere," I replied, expression grim. Disgusted as well, I added. "And Bianca joined them. It's all Zoe's fault. That stuck-up, no good-"

"Who can blame her?" Grover said. "Eternity with Artemis?" He heaved a big sigh.

I rolled my eyes and Percy replied, "Not me. I'd be dead the second I come within a five meter radius around Artemis...or Zoe."

"Or any of the Hunters." I pointed out. I turned to Grover. "You satyrs. You're all in love with Artemis. Don't you get that she'll never love you back?"

"But she's so... into nature," Grover swooned.

"You're nuts," said Percy.

"Nuts and berries," Grover said dreamily. "Yeah."

Percy pointed at Grover with his left hand, looked at me, and then spun his right hand around the side of his head. He indicated that Grover was crazy. I laughed.

After what seemed like eons of waiting, the sky began to lighten up as Apollo made his way across the sky.

"Finally," Percy grumbled. "Not that I don't enjoy hanging out with you," he hastily added to me. "It's just...I mean...I like hanging out with you and-"

"Yeah. I get it." I smiled.

Artemis muttered, "About time. He's so-o-o lazy during the winter."

Percy asked, "You're, um, waiting for sunrise?"

"For my brother. Yes."

Percy had a puzzled look on his face. I guess years of science rubs off on a person. Personally, I knew all of the Greek myths from around age nine so I've gotten used to them. Percy...Percy's slow so I'm 'ingeniously' guessing that he is still messed up about it. That also brings me to another topic. What's my age? Did the tree stop my age growing? Was I much older than Percy? Did the tree make me younger?

All of these questions started pouring into my mind. I tried emptying my mind, but to no avail. I sighed and tuned myself back in.

"It's not exactly as you think," Artemis said.

"Oh, okay." Percy started to relax. "So, it's not like he'll be pulling up in a-"

_Kelp Head_, I thought.

There was a sudden burst of light on the horizon. A blast of warmth. I averted my eyes.

"Don't look," Artemis advised. "Not until he parks."

She must have meant to advise Percy. That fool would stare at a god that is flashing out without averting his eyes unless told to do so.

The light and warmth intensified until my winter coat felt like it was completely useless. Then suddenly the light died. I looked and stared in awe. A red convertible Maserati Spyder was parked just in front of us, gleaming with light. The car felt like it was radiating heat...and it probably was. A ring of snow around the Maserati had melted and you could see the green grass underneath.

The driver got out. My eyes nearly popped out of my head. _He's hot_, I mentally drooled. I concentrated for a second and it occurred to me that Apollo looked a lot like Luke. He had Luke's sandy hair and blue eyes, but Apollo was older, taller and had a brighter and playful smile on his face. According to what Percy and Annabeth have told me, Luke only scowled and sneered these days. Apollo wore jeans and loafers and a sleeveless T-shirt.

"Wow," I muttered. "Apollo is hot."

"He's the sun god," Percy replied confused.

"That's not what I meant."

For an unknown reason, Percy's expression turned solemn before he turned away from me.

"Little sister!" Apollo called. His teeth gleamed brightly. If I didn't have anything else to look at, namely Percy, I probably would have been blinded by Apollo's teeth. "What's up? You never call. You never write. I was getting worried!"

Artemis sighed. "I'm fine, Apollo. And I am not your little sister!"

"Hey, I was born first."

"We're twins! How many millennia do we have to argue-"

"So what's up?" he interrupted. "Got the girls with you, I see. You all need some tips on archery?"

The Hunters shifted angrily. Artemis grit her teeth. "First of all, my Hunters are as good, if not better than you at archery. Second, I need a favor. I have some hunting to do, alone. I need you to take my companions to Camp Half-Blood."

"Sure, sis!" Then he raised his hands in a stop-everything gesture. "I fell a haiku coming on."

The Hunters all groaned. _If the Hunters hate it, I'll probably like it..._

He cleared his throat and held up one hand dramatically.

_"Green grass breaks through the snow._

_Artemis pleads for my help._

_I am so cool."_

I thought, _Or maybe not..._

He grinned at us, waiting for an applause. Percy glanced at me. We both definitely agreed on something. Apollo sucks at poetry.

"That last line was only four syllables," Artemis said.

Apollo frowned. "Was it?"

"Yes. What about, 'I am so big-headed?'" Artemis offered.

"No, no, that's six syllables. Hmm." He started muttering to himself.

Zoe turned to us. "Lord Apollo has been going through this haiku phase ever since he visited Japan. 'Tis not as bad as the time he visited Limerick. If I'd had to hear one more poem that started with, _There once was a goddess from Sparta_-"

"I've got it!" Apollo exclaimed. "_I am so awesome._That's five syllables!" He bowed, looking very pleased with himself.

Everyone just stared at him. The Hunters staring out of boredom. Nico and Bianca staring because of his terrible poetry. Grover was staring at Artemis. And Percy and I were staring at Apollo thinking..._What's wrong with him?_

Apollo may have good looks, but it cost him creativity and talent.

"And now, sis. Transportation for the Hunters, you say? Good timing. I was just about ready to roll."

"These demigods will also need a ride," Artemis said, pointing to us. "Some of Chiron's campers."

"No problem!" Apollo checked us out. "Let's see... Thalia, right? I've heard all about you."

I involuntarily blushed. "Hi, Lord Apollo."

"Zeus' girl, yes? Makes you my half sister."

I looked awkwardly to the ground. I never really thought about that.

"...used to be a tree, didn't you? Glad you're back. I hate it when pretty girls turn into trees. Man, I remember one time-"

"Brother," Artemis said. "You should get going."

"Oh, right." Then he turned to Percy, and his eyes narrowed. "Percy Jackson?"

"Yeah. I mean... yes, sir."

Apollo carefully studied Percy, but didn't say anything. I felt a sudden protective urge to protect Percy in case Apollo did something to him.

"Well!" he said at last. "We'd better load up, huh? Ride only goes one way-west. And if you miss it, you miss it."

I looked at the Maserati. I was about to point out the fact that a Maserati couldn't fit all twenty of us, but Nico beat me to it.

"Cool car," Nico praised.

"Thanks, kid." Apollo thanked.

"But how will we all fit?"

"Oh." Apollo sounded like he just noticed the problem for the first time. "Well..I hate to change out of sports-car mode, but I suppose..."

He took out his car keys and beeped the security alarm button._ Chirp, chirp._

The car glowed brightly once again, but when the glare died, the Maserati was no longer there. In its place, was a shuttle bus of some kind.

"Right." He ordered. "Everybody in."

Zoe ordered the Hunters to start loading out their camping packs. She picked up her own camping pack, and Apollo stupidly said, "Here, sweetheart. Let me get that."

Zoe recoiled. Her eyes flashed dangerously and her magical bow appeared on her backside.

"Brother," Artemis chided. "You do not help my Hunters. You do not look at, talk to, or flirt with my Hunters. And you most certainly do not call them sweetheart."

Apollo spread his hands. "Sorry. I forgot. Hey, sis, where are you off to, anyway?"

"If you had been listening to me earlier, you would have heard me say that I am going hunting. Other than that, it's none of your business."

"I'll find out. I see all. Know all."

Artemis snorted. "Just drop them off, Apollo. And no messing around!"

"No, no! I never mess around."

I find that kind of ironic because Apollo is the God of Truth and he's lying...

Artemis rolled her eyes, then looked at her Hunters. "I will see you by the winter solstice. Zoe, you are in charge of the Hunters. Do well. Do as I would do."

Zoe straightened. "Yes, my lady." _Suck up_, I thought bitterly, once again.

Artemis knelt and touched the ground looking for tracks that I couldn't see. "There is much danger looming around. The beast must be found."

I wonder what beast that Artemis is hunting. It causes the downfall of Olympus so it has to be the bane of Olympus. What could possibly tear Olympus down?

As Artemis sprinted into the woods, Apollo turned and grinned, jangling the car keys on his finger. "So," he said. "Who wants to drive?"

All the Hunters piled into the van first. They crammed as far back as they could. Even Bianca went to the very back, leaving her brother here in the front. I looked at Percy. His eyes looked cold and he was staring at the Hunters. I could tell he was thinking the same thing.

"This is so cool!" Nico said, jumping up and down in the driver's seat. "Is this really the sun? I thought Helios and Selene were the sun and moon gods. How come sometimes it's them and sometimes it's you and Artemis?"

"The Romans started it," Apollo explained. "They couldn't afford all those temple sacrifices, so they laid off Helios and Selene and folded their duties into our job descriptions. My sis got the moon. I got the sun. It was pretty annoying at first, but at least I got this cool car."

"But how does it work?" Nico asked. "I thought the sun was a big fiery ball of gas!"

Apollo chuckled and ruffled Nico's hair. "That rumor probably got started because Artemis used to call me a big fiery ball of gas. Seriously, kid, it depends on whether you're talking astronomy or philosophy. You want to talk astronomy? Bah, what fun is that? You want to talk about how humans think about the sun? Ah, now that's more interesting. They've got a lot riding on the sun… er, so to speak. It keeps them warm, grows their crops, powers engines, makes everything look, well, sunnier. This chariot is built out of human dreams about the sun, kid. It's as old as Western Civilization. Every day, it drives across the sky from east to west, lighting up all those puny little mortal lives. The chariot is a manifestation of the sun's power, the way mortals perceive it. Make sense?"

If that didn't make sense to me, how would it make sense to a little boy? I thought.

Nico shook his head. "No."

"Well then, just think of it as a really powerful, really dangerous solar car."

"Can I drive?"

"No. Too young."

"Oo! Oo!" Grover raised his hand.

"Mm, no," Apollo mused. "Too furry."

He looked at Percy. "Nope, son of Poseidon."

Then his eyes fixed on me. "Daughter of Zeus!" he said. "Lord of the sky. Perfect."

"Oh, no." I shook my head. Sometimes I wished I had long hair to cover my face when I want to. "No, thanks."

"C'mon," Apollo said. "How old are you?"

I hesitated. "I don't know."

As a tree, I could've aged any possible way. Theoretically, I should be nineteen, but I still felt like I was twelve. Chiron said that if someone looked at me, I would look somewhere in between. A little closer to twelve, but still in between. Chiron figured that I kept aging in tree form, but slowly.

Apollo carefully thought. "You're still young...about fourteen, a bit younger."

I eyed him skeptically, "How would you know that?"

"Hey, I'm the god of prophecy. I know stuff. You'll turn fourteen in about a week."

"That's my birthday! December twenty-second." I gasped.

"Well...Phaëton was only twelve when he tried driving the sun chariot...you should be fine." Apollo patted me on the back.

I nervously shifted on my feet. I glanced back at Percy for some help. "Uh-"

"I know what you're going to say," Apollo said. "You don't deserve an honor like driving the sun chariot."

"That's not what I was going to say." _But I'm not saying that I'm afraid of heights either._

"Don't sweat it! Maine to Long Island is a really short trip, and don't worry about what happened to Phaëton. You won't set fire and chaos to the world. Zeus isn't going to blast you of the sky."

Apollo laughed good-naturedly. No one else joined him.

I was about to protest, but Apollo wasn't taking 'no' for an answer.

"Take it away!" Apollo told me. "You're gonna be a natural!"

No I'm not. I may be Zeus' daughter, but I'm a wimp when it comes to heights. I can't imagine the terror that must be going through Percy right now.

"Speed equals heat," Apollo advised. "So start slowly, and make sure you've got good altitude before you really open her up."

I gripped the wheel tight. The world seemed to be spiraling around me even though we haven't even taken off yet.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked me.

"Nothing," I said, trying to keep me voice calm. "N-nothing is wrong."

I yanked the wheel backwards. It tilted, and the bus lurched upward so fast I fell back and crashed against something soft.

"Ow!" I heard Grover call out behind me.

"Sorry," Percy vaguely responded.

My emotions swirled up in me. I felt like I was going to be sick. As my gaze fixed outside the front window, I almost barfed. We were high in the air. Very high.

"Slower!" Apollo said.

"Sorry!" I replied. "I've got it under control!"

On the outside, I looked fine...probably just gripping the wheel tight, having a concentrated face, but on the inside I was screaming like a little girl.

"Thalia," Percy advised, "lighten up on the accelerator."

I was very stubborn. "I've got it, Percy." I kept the accelerator floored.

"Loosen up," Percy told me.

"I'm loose!" I yelled irritated.

"We need to veer south for Long Island," Apollo directed. "Hang a left."

As I felt a hand come up behind me, I jerked the wheel to the right and the hand was yanked away. I heard a yelp come from behind me.

"The other left," Apollo suggested. Apollo's voice no longer held the calmness it had before. "Ah... A little lower, sweetheart. Cape Cod is freezing over."

"Don't call me sweetheart! Only P-no one can!" I shrieked as I tilted the wheel.

The pitched down and someone screamed. In all of the fear of heights, I couldn't tell who had screamed. It started getting really hot in the bus.

"Take the wheel!" Grover begged him. _Yes! Please take the wheel. I just want to curl up in a ball right now._

"No worries," Apollo called. There was an edge to his voice that implied that he was plenty worried. "She just has to learn to-WHOA!"

I stared straight ahead and I saw the town that used to be covered in snow. Snow immediately melted and turned into puddles of water. Fire caught onto some of the trees and grass and roofs of houses. Plumes of smoke appeared all over the town. Everything was catching fire. _You won't burn the world_, Apollo had said. Well...that possibility was very likely in this case.

"Pull up!" Percy yelled.

I obeyed and yanked the well up. I guarantee that the town probably froze over.

"There!" Apollo pointed. "Long Island, dead ahead. Let's slow down, dear. 'Dead' is only an expression."

Amongst this chaos, I still felt the urge to roll my eyes. _I know what 'dead ahead' means._

The bus zoomed towards the coastline of northern Long Island. I saw Camp Half-Blood in the distance: the valley, the woods, the amphitheatre. I could see the dining pavilion and the cabins.

"I'm under control," I muttered to myself. "I'm under control."

We were only a few hundred yards away now.

"Brake," Apollo said.

"I can do this." I told myself.

"BRAKE!"

I slammed my foot on the brake and the bus dropped forward, crashing into the Camp Half-Blood canoe lake with a huge splash. Steam emerged from the water around us. Frightened naiads screamed and ran ashore with half-woven wicker baskets.

Along with the bus, a couple of capsized, half-melted canoes rose to the surface.

"Well," said Apollo with a smile. "You were right, my dear. You had everything under control! Let's go see if we boiled anyone important, shall we?"

Gripping onto Percy's arm, I exited the bus.

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**


	5. Percy Gets Saved By A Hyperactive Kid

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**I will also be making two other stories along side this one.**

**One is a Pertemis FanFic and one is going to be about Percy/Zoe**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST.**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**Chapter 5: Percy Gets Saved By A Hyperactive Kid**

**Thalia's POV  
**

I've never seen Camp Half-Blood in the winter before. To be honest, I was surprised that it was snowing in camp. Usually, it is always dry in camp and doesn't rain or snow unless Mr. D lets it.

"Wow," Percy exclaimed. "I've never seen it snow at camp before. The only times it has even remotely rained at camp was when your dad was angry at me or..." his face darkened. "When you were poisoned."

A feeling of joy washed over me. _Percy is so protective over me! He is such a good boyfriend...Boyfriend! Where did I get that absurd idea from?_

I shook my head. I don't know why, but I've been having these weird thoughts ever since I first saw Percy. Maybe he isn't the...ah...sharpest knife in the drawer, but he is quite cute.

I looked around camp. Unlike the normal warm and sunny camp that I saw when I first popped out of the tree, I saw a camp with snow that was falling lightly (unlike the heavy snow at Westover Hall), and frost covered a large portion of camp. The chariot track had frost all over it and the strawberries were all tinged with the frost. Maybe they could make frozen strawberries out of those, I thought.

When I looked over at Percy, he was staring at something. I followed his gaze to a fire that flickered in the attic window of the Big House. A small frown appeared on my face and my eyebrows scrunched up. _I thought the Oracle doesn't move?_

"Whoa!" Nico pointed to the lava wall. "Is that a climbing wall?"

"Yeah," Percy replied.

"Why is there lava pouring down it?"

_We're demigods, why wouldn't there be lava pouring down a climbing wall? Hades, I even think that there's a giant fire ant hill somewhere in the forest,_I thought.

"Little extra challenge. Come on. I'll introduce you to Chiron. Zoe, have you met-"

_Well no duh! Zoe is like...two thousand years old. I'm sure she was the one who burned the cabins down anyways._

"I know Chiron," Zoe replied stiffly. "Tell him we will be in Cabin Eight. Hunters, follow me."

"I'll show you the way," Grover offered.

I rolled my eyes. How persistent is Grover? Why would he even want to show the Hunters?

"We know the way."

"Oh, really, it's no trouble. It's easy to get lost here, if you don't"-he tripped over a canoe. I was sure I was about to laugh. Grover just got back up still talking-"like my old daddy goat used to say! Come on!"

Zoe rolled her eyes. I figured that Grover would come back with a few minor injuries. Maybe a black eye. Or two. The Hunters slinged their packs and their bows over their shoulders and headed off toward the cabins. As Bianca was leaving, she leaned over and whispered something in Nico's ear. She looked at him for an answer, but Nico just scowled and turned away. Stubborn kid...He's got dark brown hair, black clothes, and dark brown eyes. I can't shake the feeling that he was the kid of somebody I knew so very much.

"Take care, sweethearts!" Apollo called after the Hunters. An arrow slammed into the bus next to where his head would be if he were leaning against it. Keeping his calm demeanor, he removed the arrow from the bus.

As he twirled it in his left hand, he clasped Percy's shoulder with his right. "Watch out for those prophecies, Percy. I'll see you soon."

"What do you mean?" asked Percy.

He didn't answer Percy. He unclasped Percy's shoulder and eyed the both of us. Winking he said, "Behave yourselves, guys. Especially you, Thalia. Later!"

Apollo was flashing a suspicious smile at us, as if he knew something we didn't. Clicking the security alarm button, the bus turned back into a Maserati Spyder. With a blinding flash, Apollo revved the engine and blasted off drying Percy and I completely. When we turned our heads back towards where Apollo used to be. The lake water was bubbling and steaming. A glowing, red Maserati soared over the woods, glowing brighter and climbing higher until it disappeared in a ray of sunlight.

"Who's Chiron?" Nico asked. He looked grumpy. It must have been the thing that Bianca told him about earlier. "I don't have his figurine."

"Our activities director," Percy said. "He's...well, you'll see."

"If those Hunter girls don't like him," Nico grumbled, "that's good enough for me. Let's go."

As we continued around camp, I noticed that compared to the hustling and bustling of the summer, there were barely any campers left. Annabeth told me that most half-bloods only trained during the summer and stayed in the mortal world for the rest of the year. Only year-rounders would be at camp right now. They were the ones who, either didn't have homes to go back to, or would get get attacked by monsters too much if they left. There didn't seem to be many of those kinds of campers though. I knew that I was going to be a year rounder because recently, I found out my mother died in a car accident. Unless I could find a place to go to, I couldn't stay in the mortal world...especially because I'm a child of the Big Three.

A few select few are still at camp right now. Charles Beckendorf, a son of Hephaestus, adding coal and other fuels to the forge to keep the fire going. The Stoll brothers, Travis and Connor, sons of Hermes, were picking the lock on the camp store. I learned the hard way to never give them a can of whipped cream. In turn, they learned the hard way to never aggravate me unless they want their eyebrows scorched off. A few kids from the Ares cabin were having a snowball fight with the wood nymphs at the edge of the forest. Only about 10 campers were here.

"Even Clarisse isn't around," mumbled Percy.

I glanced over at the Ares' kids. None of them were Clarisse.

As we got closer to the Big House, I saw red and yellow fireballs stringed around the porch, but didn't make anything catch fire. Percy, Nico and I glanced inside the Big House. Inside, the hearth crackled with bright yellow flames. The air smelled like hot chocolate out on the porch. Mr. D, or Dionysus, the camp director, and Chiron, the centaur, were playing a quiet game of cards in the parlor.

Chiron's brown beard was shaggier for the winter. His curly hair had grown a little longer. He wasn't posing as a teacher this year, so I guess he could afford to be casual. He wore a fuzzy sweater with a hoof print design on it, and he had a blanket on his lap that almost hid his wheelchair completely.

He smiled when he saw us. "Percy! Thalia Ah, and this must be-"

"Nico di Angelo," Percy interrupted. "He and his sister are half-bloods."

Chiron breathed a sigh of relief. "You succeeded, then."

"Well..."

I interrupted Percy. "Bianca chose to join the Hunters. We didn't completely succeed."

Chiron's smile faltered. "Well that is...unfortunate. But the more important matter is that she is safe."

"Yeah, safe." Percy muttered.

Chiron's smile melted this time. "What's wrong? And where is Annabeth?"

"Oh, dear," Mr. D said in a bored voice, "Not another one lost."

Mr. D was being his usual, boring, careless self. Today, he wore a neon orange leopard-skin warm-up suit and purple running shoes. I looked at Dionysus skeptically. Mr. D...running...I doubt that has happened a day in his immortal life. A golden laurel wreath was hanging off the side of his curly black hair, which probably meant that he'd won the last hand of cards.

"What do you mean?" I asked. "Who else is lost?"

Who could possibly be missing?

At that moment, Grover scampered into the room, grinning like a madman. Like I predicted, he had a black eye. Red lines on his both sides of his face also stood out. They looked like slap marks. "The Hunters are all moved in!"

Chiron frowned. "The Hunters, eh? I see we have much to talk about." Glancing at Nico he said, "Grover, perhaps you should take our young friend to the den and show him our orientation film."

_This kid is in for a big surprise_, I thought._ Then again, he already knows about the gods through his geek game._

"But... Oh, right. Yes, sir."

"Orientation film?" Nico asked. "Is it G or PG? Because Bianca is kinda strict-"

Grover cut him off. "It's PG-13."

"Cool!" Nico happily followed him out of the room.

"Now," Chiron said to Percy and me, "perhaps you two should sit down and tell us the whole story."

We told the entire story from when we entered the school dance, to finding out about Dr. Thorn and to where Artemis and her Hunters found us. We awkwardly skipped over the part about us dancing because first off, it was extremely awkward and secondly, it didn't really explain anything that is useful.

After we finished telling the story, Chiron turned to Mr. D. "We should launch a search for Annabeth immediately."

"I'll go," Percy and I said at the same time.

Mr. D sniffed. "Certainly not!"

Percy and I both started complaining, but Mr. D help up his hand. He had that purplish angry fire in his eyes that usually meant something bad and godly was going to happen if we didn't shut up.

"From what you have told me," Mr. D said, "we have broken even on this escapade. We have, ah, regrettably lost Annie Bell-"

"Annabeth," Percy and I snapped. She has been to this camp since she was seven, and Mr. D still pretended that he didn't know her name.

"Yes, yes," he waved off the comment. "And you procured a small annoying boy to replace her. So I see no point risking further half-bloods on a ridiculous rescue. The possibility is very great that this Annie girl is dead."

A dangerous light flickered in my eyes. I could literally feel the electricity pulsing through my body. Mr. D had been sent here by my father as a punishment from chasing an off-limits wood nymph. The unfair part is that, Mr. D's punishment turned out to be a punishment for all of us instead.

"Annabeth may be alive," Chiron said, but his tone and body language showed that he had doubts about that. Annabeth and Chiron had a father-daughter relationship when she was a year-round camper. I could easily tell that, but now she's given living with her dad and stepmom a second try. "She's very bright. If... if our enemies have her, she will try to play for time. She may even pretend to cooperate."

"That's right." I nodded my head in assent. "Luke would want her alive."

"In which case," said Mr. D, "I'm afraid she will have to be smart enough to escape on her own."

Percy got up from the table.

I hissed to Percy, "What are you doing?"

"Percy." Chiron followed up. His tone was clearly evident of warning. Percy's impulsive ADHD side kicked in and he ignored Chiron. Percy looked beyond pissed. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"You're glad to lose another camper," I said. "You'd like it if we all disappeared!"

Mr. D stifled a yawn. "You have a point?"

That started my anger once again. I controlled the electricity on the outside, but on the inside, the voltage was just screaming to get out.

"Yeah," Percy growled in a low and dangerous tone. "Just because you were sent here as a punishment doesn't mean you have to be a lazy jerk! This is your civilization, too. Maybe you could try helping out a little! I always wonder, how the Hades you got a spot on the Olympian council?"

Dionysus' eyes gained that purple fury once again. I heard the waves pounding against the shore outside. My eyes widened a little. _How powerful is Percy?_

Dionysus opened his mouth to say something...probably a curse that would blast me to smithereens...when Nico burst into the room, followed by Grover.

"SO COOL!" Nico yelled. He practically praised Chiron. "You're... you're a centaur! And the trainer of all of those heroes!"

In all of the tension, Chiron managed a nervous smile. "Yes, Mr. di Angelo, if you please. Though, I prefer to stay in human form in this wheelchair for, ah, first encounters."

"And, whoa!" He looked at Mr. D with awe. "You're the wine dude? No way!"

I almost laughed. Mr. D turned away from Percy and glared at Nico. "The wine dude?"

"Dionysus, right? Oh, wow! I've got your figurine."

"My...figurine?"

"In my game, Mythomagic. And a holofoil card, too! And even though you've only got like five hundred attack points and everybody thinks you're the lamest god card, I totally think your powers are sweet!"

Dionysus looked astonished. Nico probably just saved Percy's life. "Well, that's... gratifying."

"Percy," Chiron said quickly, "you and Thalia go down to the cabins. Inform the campers we'll be playing capture the flag tomorrow evening."

Percy didn't catch the hint. "Capture the flag?" he asked, confused. "But we don't have enough-"

"It is a tradition," Chiron said. "A friendly match, whenever the Hunters visit."

"Yeah," I muttered. "I bet it's real friendly."

I wanted to add that it ends with all of the cabins burning down, but I decided not to, in the end.

Chiron jerked his head toward Mr. D, who was still frowning as Nico talked about how many defense points all the gods had in his game. "Run along now," Chiron told us.

"Oh, right," I said. "Come on, Percy."

My hand slipped perfectly into his hand and blushing, I hauled him out of the Big House before Dionysus could remember that he wanted to kill him.

As soon as we got outside, I hastily let go of his hand and turned on him. "You've already got Ares on your bad side," I reminded him as we trudged toward the cabins. "You need another immortal enemy?"

He looked a little lost in thought. He was probably reminiscing about the time, a year and a half ago, when he fought Ares and defeated him. When I first learned about the story, I wondered how in the world a twelve year old demigod who has only trained for a couple weeks could beat the God of War. Percy said it was Annabeth's words that helped him: _Ares has strength. That's all he has. Even strength has to bow down to wisdom sometimes._

"Sorry," Percy said. "I couldn't help it. It's just so unfair."

I stopped by the armory and looked out across the valley, toward the top of Half-Blood Hill, the place I died. My pine tree was still there, the Golden Fleece glittering in its lowest branch. The tree's magic still protected the borders of camp, but it no longer used my spirit for power.

"Percy, everything is unfair," I muttered. "Sometimes I wish..."

Although I loved everything in this version of life, I really wanted things to go back to the way they were before when I traveled across the country with Luke and Annabeth. I felt the pitying look that Percy was giving me. I sighed sadly.

"We'll get Annabeth back," Percy promised. "I just don't know how yet."

I nodded my head solemnly. "First I found out that Luke is lost," I said. "Now Annabeth..." I smiled at him. "Although not everything is bad about his version of life."

He smiled back. "It's okay. But don't think like that."

"You're right." I straightened up. "We'll find a way to get Annabeth back."

Over at the basketball court, a few of the Hunters were shooting hoops. One of them was arguing with a guy from the Ares cabin. The Ares kid had his hand on his sword and the Hunter girl looked like she was going to exchange her basketball for a bow and arrow any second.

"I'll break that up," I told him. "You circulate around the cabins. Tell everybody about capture the flag tomorrow."

"All right. You should be team captain."

"No, no," I said. "You've been at camp longer. You do it."

"We can, uh... co-captain or something."

I felt uncomfortable with that idea and I was thinking about saying that it wasn't such a good idea, to Percy, but I nodded.

As I headed for the court, Percy called using the nickname that Luke used to use and what he called me the night I came out from the tree. "Hey, Thals."

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry about what happened at Westover. I shouldn't have run away. It's just that, a mob cut me off and I couldn't see you anywhere.

"It's...it's okay, Percy. I probably would've done the same thing." That clearly shocked him. I nervously shifted from foot to foot deciding whether to tell Percy about my mom's death or not. "You know, you asked about my mom and I kinda snapped at you. It's just... I went back to find her after seven years, and I found out she died in Los Angeles. She, um... she was a heavy drinker, and apparently she was out driving late one night about two years ago, and..." I blinked hard trying to stop the tears that were sprouting from my eyes.

Percy sympathetically responded, "I'm sorry."

"Well...It's not like we were ever close. I ran away at ten. The best two years of my life were when I was running around with Luke and Annabeth. I'm also quite enjoying-"

"That's why you had trouble with the sun van."

I stiffly turned towards him and gave him a wary look. _Did he find out that easily?_"What do you mean?"

"The way you stiffened up. You must've been thinking about your mom, not wanting to get behind the wheel."

I mentally sighed, but gave him a sharp look. _He hasn't figured it out yet._He looked apologetic for saying anything, but I just muttered, "Yeah. Yeah, that must've been it."

I trudged off towards the court, where the Ares camper and the Hunter were trying to kill each other with a sword and a basketball.

**Percy's POV ****(I know I said I wasn't going to do other perspectives, but I'm not good with creating other scenes)**

After Thalia trudged off toward the court, I went to the cabins to tell everybody about Capture the Flag.

If you've ever been to camp, you would've seen the most bizarre collection of cabins you will ever have seen. Zeus and Hera's big white-columned buildings, Cabins One and Two, stood in the middle, with five gods' cabins on the left and five goddesses' cabins on the right, so they all made a U around the central green and the barbecue hearth.

I made the rounds, telling everybody about capture the flag. I didn't stop at the Hunters' cabin because I didn't want to get beat up. Also, I didn't stop at Zeus, Hera or Poseidon's cabins because they were all empty besides Thalia and I. When I reached the Ares cabin, I woke some kid from his midday nap and he yelled at me to go away. When I asked him where Clarisse was, he said, "Went on a quest for Chiron. Top secret!"

"Is she okay?"

"Haven't heard from her in a month. She's missing in action. Like your butt's gonna be if you don't get outta here!"

I decided to let him go back to sleep.

Finally I got to Cabin Three, the cabin of Poseidon. It was a low gray building carved from sea stone, with shells and coral fossils imprinted in the rock. Inside, it was just as empty as always, except for my bunk. A Minotaur horn hung on the wall next to my pillow.

I took Annabeth's baseball cap out of my backpack and set it on my nightstand. I'd give  
it to her when Thalia and I found her. And we _would_ find her. I thought about her becoming a Hunter. I sighed. _Why did she never tell me? I understand, but what hurts me the most is that she never told me. And she had told Thalia._

I took off my wristwatch and activated the shield. It creaked noisily as it spiraled out. Dr. Thorn's spikes had dented the brass in a dozen places. One gash kept the shield from opening all the way, so it looked like a pizza with two slices missing. The beautiful metal pictures that my half-brother had crafted were all banged up. In the picture of me and Annabeth fighting the Hydra, it looked like a meteor had made a crater in my head. I hung the shield on its hook, next to the Minotaur horn, but it was painful to look at now. Maybe Beckendorf from the Hephaestus cabin could fix it for me. He was the best armorsmith in the camp. I'd ask him at dinner.

I was staring at the shield when I noticed a strange sound—water gurgling—and I realized there was something new in the room. At the back of the cabin was a big tub made of gray sea rock, with a spout like the head of a fish carved in stone. Out of its mouth burst a stream of water, a salt water spring that trickled into the pool. The water must've been hot, because it sent mist into the cold winter air like a sauna. It made the room feel warm and summery, fresh with the smell of the sea.

I stepped up to the pool. There was no note attached or anything, but I knew it could only be a gift from Poseidon.

I looked into the water and said, "Thanks, Dad."

The surface rippled. At the bottom of the pool, coins shimmered into view—a dozen or so drachma. It was a reminder to keep in touch with my family.

I opened the nearest window, and the distant sunlight made a rainbow in the mist. Then I fished a coin out of the hot water.

"Iris, O Goddess of the Rainbow," I said, "accept my offering."

I tossed a coin into the mist and it disappeared. Then I realized I forgot to choose who to contact first.

My mom? That would've been the "good son" thing to do, but she wouldn't be worried about me yet. She was used to me disappearing for days or weeks at a time.

My father? It had been way too long, almost two years, since I'd actually talked to him. But could you even send an Iris-message to a god? I'd never tried. I hesitated. Then I made up my mind.

"Show me Tyson," I decided. "At the forges of the Cyclopes."

The mist glimmered, and the image of my half brother appeared. He was surrounded in fire, which would've been a problem if he weren't a Cyclops. He was creating a sword. Sparks flew and flames flickered around his body. There was a marble-framed window behind him, and it looked out onto dark blue water—the bottom of the ocean.

"Tyson!" I yelled.

He didn't hear me at first because of the hammering and the blasting flames.

"TYSON!"

He turned, and his one calf-brown eye widened. His face broke into a crooked yellow grin. "Percy!"

He dropped the sword blade and ran at me, trying to give me a hug. The vision blurred and I instinctively lurched back. "Tyson, it's an Iris-message. I'm not really here."

"Oh." He came back into view, red-faced. "Oh, I knew that. Yes."

"How are you?" I asked. "How's the job?"

His eye lit up. "Love the job! Look!" He picked up the hot sword blade with his bare hands which if I ever tried to do, my hands would instantly burn off. "I made this!"

"That's really cool."

"I wrote my name on it. Right there."

"Awesome. Listen, do you talk to Dad much?"

Tyson's smile faded. "Not much. Daddy is busy. He is worried about the war."

"What do you mean?"

Tyson sighed. He stuck the sword blade out the window, and steam came from it. When Tyson brought it back in, the metal was cool. "Old sea spirits making trouble. Aigaios. Oceanus. Those guys."

I sort of knew what he was talking about. He meant the immortals who ruled the oceans back in the days of the Titans. Before the Olympians took over. The fact that they were back now, with the Titan Lord Kronos and his allies gaining strength, was not good.

"Is there anything I can do?" I asked.

Tyson shook his head sadly. "We are arming the mermaids. They need a thousand more swords by tomorrow." He looked at his sword blade and sighed. "Old spirits are protecting the  
bad boat."

"The Princess Andromeda?" I said. "Luke's boat?"

"Yes. They make it hard to find. Protect it from Daddy's storms. Otherwise he would  
smash it."

"Smashing it would be good."

Tyson perked up, as if he just realized something to ask about. "Annabeth! Is she there?"

"Oh, well…" My heart felt like a bowling ball. Tyson thought Annabeth was just about the coolest thing since peanut butter (and he seriously loved peanut butter). I couldn't tell him she was missing. He'd probably start crying so bad he'd probably put out his fires. "Well, no… she's not here right now."

"Tell her hello!" He beamed. "Hello to Annabeth!"

"Okay." I fought back a guilty lump in my throat. "I'll do that."

"And, Percy, don't worry about the bad boat. It is going away."

"What do you mean?"

"Panama Canal! Very far away."

I frowned. Why would Luke take his demon-infested cruise ship all the way down there? The last time we'd seen him, he'd been cruising along the East Coast, recruiting half-bloods and training his monstrous army.

"All right," I said, not feeling unworried. "That's… good. I guess."

In the forges, a deep voice bellowed something I couldn't make out. Tyson flinched. "Got to get back to work! Boss will get mad. Good luck, Brother!"

"Okay, tell Dad—"

But before I could finish, the vision shimmered and faded. I was alone again in my cabin, feeling even lonelier than before.

I was pretty miserable at dinner that night.

I mean, the food was excellent as usual. You can't go wrong with barbecue, pizza, and never-empty soda goblets. The torches and braziers kept the outdoor pavilion warm, but we all had to sit with our cabin mates, which meant I was alone at the Poseidon table. Thalia sat alone at the Zeus table, but we couldn't sit together. I wished we could. I mean...I had sort of a, ah, liking toward her and I hoped that the camp rules could change for certain times. Unfortunately, those were the camp rules. At least the Hephaestus, Ares, and Hermes cabins had a few people each. Nico sat with the Stoll brothers, since new campers always got stuck in the Hermes cabin if their Olympian parent was unknown. The Stoll brothers seemed to be trying to convince Nico that poker was a much better game than Mythomagic. I hoped Nico didn't have any money to lose.

The only table that really seemed to be having a good time was the Artemis table. The Hunters drank and ate and laughed like one big happy family. Zoe sat at the head like she was the mama. Well...I guess she was, when Artemis isn't there. She didn't laugh as much as the others, but she did smile from time to time. Her silver lieutenant's band glittered in the dark braids of her hair. I thought she looked a lot nicer when she smiled. Bianca seemed to be having a great time. She was trying to learn how to arm wrestle from the big girl who'd picked a fight with the Ares kid on the basketball court. The bigger girl was beating her every time, but Bianca didn't seem to mind.

When we'd finished eating, Chiron made the conventional toast to the gods and formally welcomed the Hunters of Artemis. The clapping was pretty half-hearted. Then he announced the "good will" capture-the-flag game for tomorrow night, which got a lot better reception.

Afterward, we all trailed back to our cabins for an early, winter lights out. I was exhausted, which meant I fell asleep easily. That was the good part. The bad part was, I had a nightmare, and even by my standards it was a whopper.

Annabeth was on a dark hillside, shrouded in fog. It almost seemed like the Underworld, because I immediately felt claustrophobic and I couldn't see the sky above—just a close, heavy darkness, as if I were in a cave or being advanced on by Zeus' wind storms.

Annabeth struggled up the hill. Old broken Greek columns of black marble were scattered around, as though something had blasted a huge building to rums. I felt a heavy presence of magic. Somewhat like the chant, Annabeth, Grover and I heard at the entrance to Tartarus. I had a bad feeling that this was a bad place.

"Thorn!" Annabeth cried. "Where are you? Why did you bring me here?" She clambered over a section of broken wall and came to the crest of the hill.

She gasped.

There was Luke. And he was in pain.

He was crumpled on the rocky ground, trying to rise. The blackness seemed to be thicker around him, fog swirling hungrily. His clothes were in tatters and his face was scratched and drenched with sweat,

"Annabeth!" he called. "Help me! Please!"

She ran forward.

I tried to cry out: _He's a traitor! Don't trust him! Remember the Hunters or something!_

But my voice didn't work in the dream.

Annabeth had tears in her eyes. She reached down like she wanted to touch Luke's face, but at the last second she hesitated.

"What happened?" she asked.

"They left me here," Luke groaned. "Please. It's killing me."

I couldn't see what was wrong with him. He seemed to be struggling against some invisible curse, as though the fog weighed tons and was threatening to crush him.

"Why should I trust you?" Annabeth asked. Her voice was filled with hurt.

"You shouldn't," Luke said. "I've been terrible to you. But if you don't help me, I'll die."

_Let him die, _I wanted to scream. Luke had tried to kill us in cold blood too many times. He didn't deserve anything from Annabeth. He didn't deserve her help. But Annabeth always had a soft spot for Luke. No matter how hard she tried, she would always have a soft spot for Luke. I mentally groaned. _Why? Why can't you be like Thalia! I'm pretty sure she liked Luke too!_

Then the darkness above Luke began to crumble, like a cavern roof in an earthquake. Huge chunks of black rock began falling. Annabeth rushed in just as a crack appeared, and the whole ceiling dropped. She held it somehow—tons of rock and fog. She kept it from collapsing on her and Luke just with her own strength. It was impossible. She shouldn't have been able to do that.

Luke rolled free, gasping. "Thanks," he managed.

"Help me hold it," Annabeth groaned.

Luke caught his breath. His face was covered in grime and sweat. He rose unsteadily. "I knew I could count on you." He began to walk away as the trembling blackness threatened to crush Annabeth.

"HELP ME!" she pleaded,

"Oh, don't worry," Luke said. "Your help is on the way. It's all part of the plan. In the  
meantime, try not to die."

The ceiling of darkness began to crumble again, pushing Annabeth against the ground.

I sat bolt upright in bed, clawing at the sheets. There was no sound in my cabin except the gurgle of the saltwater spring. The clock on my nightstand read just after midnight.

Only a dream. I needed to tell Thalia about this, but I was sure of two things: Annabeth was in terrible danger. And Luke was responsible.

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**


	6. The Oracle Moves Out

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**I will also be making two other stories along side this one.**

**One is a Pertemis FanFic and one is going to be about Percy/Zoe**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST.**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

Chapter 6: The Oracle Moves Out

**Thalia's POV**

The next morning after breakfast, Percy told Grover and I about a dream he had the previous night. We sat in the meadow watching other satyrs chase dryads through the snow. Apparently, the dryads had promised to kiss the satyrs on the lips if they got caught, but the dryads never did. The dryads let the satyrs sprint at them and then they'd turn into a snow-covered tree and the satyrs would slam into it headfirst and get a pile of snow dumped on them.

When Percy told Grover and I his nightmare, Grover started twirling his finger in his rugged leg fur.

"How could a cave ceiling collapse on her?" Grover asked.

"Didn't you say it looked like a giant storm of fog?" I also questioned.

"Well, yeah... What does it all mean though?"

Grover shook his head. "I don't know. But after what Zoe dreamed-"

"Wait..." Percy started.

"...What do you mean by _Zoe had a dream_?" I finished.

Grover blushed. "Well... At about three in the morning she came to the Big House and tried getting in to talk to Chiron. She looked really panicked."

I raised my eyebrows. "And _how_exactly do you know this?"

Grover blushed an even deeper red. "I was...sort of camped outside the Artemis cabin."

"What for?" Percy asked.

"Just to be, you know, near them."

"You're a stalker with hooves."

I laughed. Grover snapped back, "I am not!"

Percy laughed along with me. We chorused, "You totally are!"

"Anyways," Grover continued. "I followed her to the Big House and hid in a bush and watched the whole thing. She got real upset when Argus wouldn't let her in. It was kind of a dangerous scene."

"Argus was there? He hardly ever shows himself unless something serious is going on," I mused.

"I was just thinking the same thing," Percy said. He turned to Grover, "What did she say?"

Grover grimaced. "Well, she starts talking really old-fashioned when she gets upset, so it was kind of hard to understand. But something about Artemis being in trouble and needing the Hunters. And then she called Argus a boil-brained lout... I think that's a bad thing. And then he called her-"

"Whoa, wait. How could Artemis be in trouble?" Percy asked.

"I... well, finally Chiron came out in his pajamas and his horse tail in curlers and-"

I snickered. Percy asked incredulously, "He wears curlers in his tail?"

Grover slapped his hand to his mouth. Under his hand he said something. "I shuda hah seh dah."

"It's alright, G-Man. We won't tell," I said. "Go on."

He uncovered his mouth. "Well, then Zoe said she needed permission to leave camp immediately. Chiron refused. He reminded Zoe that the Hunters were supposed to stay here until they received orders from Artemis. And she said..."

As Grover gulped, Percy and I exchanged a quick glance. _Artemis couldn't have been kidnapped, could she?_

"She said, 'How are we to get orders from Artemis if Artemis is lost?'"

"What do you meant lost?" Percy asked. "Like she needs directions?"

I sighed. "No. I think she meant gone. Taken. Kidnapped," I said.

"_Kidnapped_?" Percy went wide-eyed. "How would you kidnap an immortal goddess? Is that even possible?"

"Well of course. It happened to Persephone." Grover said.

"But she was like, the goddess of flowers."

Grover looked offended. "Springtime."

"Whatever," Percy rolled his eyes. "Artemis is a lot more powerful than that. Who could kidnap her? And why?"

Grover shook his head miserably. "I don't know. Kronos?"

"He can't be that powerful already. Can he?" Percy asked.

I thought about it. From what I've heard, Kronos is still scattered into a million pieces, but slowly reforming. Thousands of years ago, after the big Titan War, my father sliced him to bits with his own scythe and threw his remains in Tartarus. According to Percy's stories, Annabeth, Grover and Percy almost got dragged into Tartarus two years ago. Then, the previous summer, Percy, Annabeth and Tyson, Percy's baby Cyclops half-brother, found a golden coffin that held the pieces of Kronos inside. However, I do not think that Kronos could conquer Artemis physically if he was still in the coffin.

Then the idea hit me. When Percy told us the story about Dr. Thorn and meeting someone called the General, it seemed to us that the General was an important leader in Kronos' army. "It's the General." I said.

Percy turned to me. Grover seemed uncertain. "I don't know. I think somebody would know if a being powerful enough to overwhelm Artemis was on the loose. But still, it's weird. You having a nightmare the same night as Zoe. It's almost like-"

"They're connected," Percy said.

A loud _pop_ and _thud_ came from the frozen meadow. A satyr had skidded on his hooves as he chased after a redheaded tree nymph. She had giggled, held her arms out as he ran towards her and _popped_into a Scotch pine as he kissed the trunk at top speed.

"Ah, love," Grover said dreamily.

Percy seemed to be thinking. He bluntly stated, "I've got to talk to Zoe."

I was about to advise him not to do that when Grover caught my eye. He was going to tell Percy about Annabeth wanting to join the Hunters. I was going to tell Grover not to talk about it, but he started before I could tell him.

"Um, before you do..." Grover pulled a brochure out of his coat pocket. "You remember what you said about how it was weird that the Hunters just happened to show up at Westover Hall? Well, I think they might've been scouting us."

Percy glanced warily at me. I used my eyes to tell him to play along.

Percy pretended to be puzzled. "Scouting us?"

"I found this in Annabeth's backpack," Grover said.

Percy took the Hunter brochure. Grover sighed, "Annabeth was thinking about joining the Hunters."

Percy glanced back at me and I nodded. He could drop the act now. "I know Grover. And I'm not happy about it one bit."

Percy turned 180 degrees and briskly walked away.  
Grover started to get up to go after Percy. I grabbed Grover's arm, "He's going to need some space, Grover. Leave him be."

Grover looked back at me with a worried look on his face. Sadly, I turned to look at Percy's disappearing figure. When he got near the training area, I saw his shoulders slump.

Grover patted me on the shoulder. "Come on. Let's do whatever's on our schedule."

I got up and made my way to the archery fields.

**Percy's POV**

_Why couldn't she just tell me?_

I was sad and angry at the same time. I was sad because my best friend wanted to join a place where boys are hated. I was angry because my best friend never told me that she wanted to join the Hunters.

For the rest of the day, I tried to keep busy to forget about Annabeth's decision. I went to javelin-throwing class, but the Ares camper in charge yelled at me after I got distracted and threw the javelin before he got out of the way. I apologized for the hole in his pants, but he still told me to leave.

I visited the pegasus stables, but Silena Beauregard from the Aphrodite cabin was having an argument with one of the Hunters. I decided that I'd better not get involved.

After that, I sat in the empty chariot stands and sulked. At the top of Half-Blood hill, Mr. D and Argus were feeding the baby dragon that guarded the Golden Fleece.

I looked in the other direction and saw the archery fields. Chiron was teaching the class. I noticed this one person kept shooting better than others. I glanced at the figure who was shooting. It was Thalia. _Wow,_ I thought, _who would've ever thought that Thalia is better at archery than everybody besides the Apollo cabin._With grace, she pulled back the arrow to full draw and let go. The arrow slammed into the inner ring. I half-smiled.

Then, I looked back at Chiron. I knew he'd be the best person to talk to. Maybe he could give me some advice, but something held me back. I had a feeling Chiron would try to protect me, like he always did. He might not tell me everything he knew.

A thought occurred to me: no one would be in the Big House. There was someone else... _something_else I could ask for guidance.

My blood was humming in my ears as I ran into the house and took the stairs. I'd only done this once before, and I still had nightmares about it. I opened the trap door and stepped into the attic.

The room was dark and dusty. Junk was cluttered everywhere, just like I remembered. There were shields with monster bites out of them, and swords bent in the shapes of daemon heads, and a bunch of taxidermy, like a stuffed harpy and a bright orange python.

I looked over to the window and saw what I was looking for. Sitting on a three-legged stool, was a shriveled-up mummy of an old lady in a tie-dyed hippie dress. The Oracle.

It took all of my will, but I forced myself to walk toward her. I waited for the green mist to billow from the mummy's mouth, like it had before, but nothing happened.

"Uh, hi," I said. "What's...um...up?"

I winced at how stupid that sounded. Not much could be 'up' when you're dead and stuck in the attic. But I knew the spirit of the Oracle was in there somewhere. I could feel a cold presence in the room, like a coiled sleeping snake.

"I have a question," I said a little louder. "I need to know about Annabeth and Artemis. How can I save them?"

The cold presence started appearing, like before. Then all of a sudden, it retreated. The sun slanted through the dirty attic window, lighting the dust motes dancing in the air.

I waited longer.

Then I got angry. It was about to speak to me, but as if it saw who I was, it stonewalled me.

"All right," I spat bitterly. "Fine. I'll figure it out by myself."

I turned and bumped into a big table full of souvenirs. It seemed more cluttered than the last time I was here. Heroes stored all kinds of stuff in the attic: quest trophies they no longer wanted to keep in their cabins, or stuff that held painful memories. I knew Luke had stored a dragon claw somewhere up here—the one that had scarred his face.

There was a broken sword hilt labeled: _This broke and Leroy got killed. 1999._

Then I noticed a pink silk scarf with a label attached to it. I picked up the tag and tried  
to read it:

**SCARF OF THE GODDESS APHRODITE**

RECOVERED AT WATERLAND, DENVER, CO.,

BY ANNABETH CHASE AND PERCY JACKSON

I stared at the scarf. I'd totally forgotten about it. Two years ago, Annabeth had ripped this scarf out of my hands and said something like, _Oh, no. No love magic for you!_

I let out a quiet chuckle. I could imagine the hassle that she would have to deal with if I had gotten enchanted by the scarf.

However, I had just assumed she'd thrown it away and yet here it was. She'd kept it all this time? And why had she stashed it in the attic?

I turned to the mummy. She hadn't moved, but the shadows across her face made it look like she was smiling gruesomely.

I dropped the scarf and tried not to run toward the exit.

That night after dinner, I was seriously ready to beat the Hunters at capture the flag. It was going to be a small game: only thirteen Hunters, including Bianca di Angelo, and about the same number of campers.

Zoe Nightshade looked pretty upset. She kept glancing resentfully at Chiron, like she couldn't believe he was making her do this. The other Hunters didn't look too happy, either. Unlike last night, they weren't laughing or joking around. They just huddled together in the dining pavilion, whispering nervously to each other as they strapped on their armor. Some of them even looked like they'd been crying. I guess Zoe had told them about her nightmare.

On our team, we had Beckendorf and two other Hephaestus guys, a few from the Ares cabin (though it still seemed strange that Clarisse wasn't around), the Stoll brothers and Nico from Hermes cabin, and a few Aphrodite kids. It was weird that the Aphrodite cabin wanted to play. Usually they sat on the sidelines, chatted, and checked their reflections in the river and stuff, but when they heard we were fighting the Hunters, they were raring to go.

"I'll show them 'love is worthless,'" Silena Beauregard grumbled as she strapped on her armor. "I'll pulverize them!"

That left Thalia and me.

I opened my mouth to speak, but Thalia beat me to it. "I'll take the offense. You take defense."

"Oh," I hesitated. I was about to say the same thing except backwards. "Don't you think with your shield and all, you'd be better defense?"

Thalia already had Aegis on her arm, and even our own teammates were giving her a wide berth, trying not to cower before the bronze head of Medusa.

"Well, I was thinking it would make better offense," Thalia said. "Besides, you've had more practice at defense."

I grimaced. I've had some pretty bad experiences with defense in capture the flag. My first ever game, Annabeth put me out as bait for the Ares kids, and I'd almost been stabbed to death with spears and ripped to shreds by a hellhound.

"Yeah," I turned away, "no problem."

Behind me, Thalia said, "Cool."

I glanced behind and saw Thalia helping some of the Aphrodite kids, who were having trouble suiting up their armor without breaking their nails. Nico di Angelo ran up to me with a big grin on his face.

"Percy, this is awesome!" His blue-feathered bronze helmet was falling in his eyes, and his breastplate was about six sizes too big. I wondered if there was any way I'd looked that ridiculous when I'd first arrived. Unfortunately, I probably had.

With a little bit of effort, Nico lifted his sword. "Do we get to kill the other team?"

"Well... no."

"But the Hunters are immortal, right?"

"That's only if they don't fall in battle. Besides-"

"It would be awesome if we just, like, resurrected as soon as we were killed, so we could keep fighting, and-"

"Nico, this is serious. Real swords. These can hurt. I speak from personal experience."

He stared at me, a little disappointed, and I realized that I'd just sounded like my mother. Whoa. Not a good sign.

I patted Nico on the shoulder. "Hey, it's cool. Just follow the team. Stay out of Zoe's way. We'll have a blast."

Chiron's hoof thundered on the pavilion floor.

"Heroes!" he called. "You know the rules! The creek is the boundary line. Blue team— Camp Half-Blood—shall take the west woods. Hunters of Artemis—red team—shall take the east woods. I will serve as referee and battlefield medic. No intentional maiming, please! All magic items are allowed. To your positions!"

"Sweet," Nico whispered next to me. "What kind of magic items? Do I get one?"

I was about to tell him that he didn't, when Thalia called, "Blue team! Follow me!"

They cheered and followed. I had to run to catch up, and tripped over somebody's shield, so I didn't look much like a co-captain. More like an idiot.

We set our flag at the top of Zeus's Fist. It's this cluster of boulders in the middle of the west woods that, if you look at it just the right way, looks like a huge fist sticking out of the ground. If you look at it from any other side, it looks like a pile of enormous deer droppings, but Chiron wouldn't let us call the place the Poop Pile, especially after it had been named for  
Zeus, who doesn't have much of a sense of humor.

Anyway, it was a good place to set the flag. The top boulder was twenty feet tall and really hard to climb, so the flag was clearly visible, like the rules said it had to be, and it didn't matter that the guards weren't allowed to stand within ten yards of it.

I set Nico on guard duty with Beckendorf and the Stoll brothers, figuring he'd be safely out of the way.

"We'll send out a decoy to the left," Thalia told the team. "Silena, you lead that."

"Got it!"

"Take Laurel and Jason. They're good runners. Make a wide arc around the Hunters, attract as many as you can. I'll take the main raiding party around to the right and catch them by surprise."

Everybody nodded. It sounded good, and Thalia said it with such confidence you couldn't help but believe it would work.

Thalia looked at me. "Anything to add, Percy?"

"Um, yeah. Keep sharp on defense. We've got four guards, two scouts. That's not much for a big forest. I'll be roving. Yell if you need help."

"And don't leave your post!" Thalia said.

"Unless you see a golden opportunity," I added.

Thalia scowled. "Just don't leave your post."

"Right, unless—"

"Percy!" She touched my arm and shocked me. I mean, everybody can give static shocks in the winter, but when Thalia does, it hurts. I guess it's because her dad is the god of lightning. She's been known to fry off people's eyebrows.

"Sorry," Thalia said, though she didn't sound particularly sorry. "Now, is everybody clear?"

Everybody nodded. We broke into our smaller groups. The horn sounded, and the game began.

**Thalia's POV**

The horn sounded and Silena's group took off into the woods. I gave it a few seconds and darted into the our section of the woods.

"Keep quiet," I ordered my group.

Through the branches and bushes, I saw a group of five hunters head over to where Silena was headed.

"It's working..."

A blunt-tipped arrow slammed into the tree next to me.

"Crap. You guys get my back. I'm going to go ahead."

Everyone nodded. Then, the underbrush rustled and six Hunters came out with their hunting knives drawn. I used Aegis to hit at one of the Hunters and knocked her down. I slashed my spear and another and with a little electrical shock, she fell down. The Hunters retreated, but they were smiling.

I took off towards the flag. My group followed me. Then I heard a cry for help. It was one of the Hunters. What in the world is going on?

I came into vision of what was happening. A silvery cord shot from the other side of the forest. It lodged itself into a tree and then a average-built, black haired, green eyed person went sprawling in the snow.

"Percy!" I yelled. "What are you _doing_?"

I was starting to run after him. Then, an arrow exploded at my feet and a cloud of yellow smoke bulged around my team. We started coughing and gagging.

"No fair!" I gasped. "Fart arrows are unsportsmanlike!"

As I coughed, I saw Percy get up and run. I started running after him. Unfortunately, with the horrible smell of sulfur, I lost my breath easier and couldn't tackle him before he got to the creek line.

"No!" he yelled and ran even faster.

Then I saw what he was screaming about. When Percy was two feet from the water, Zoe bolted across to the Hunters' side, slamming into Percy. _He deserved it_, I thought bitterly.

The Hunters cheered as both sides converged on the creek. Chiron appeared out of the woods, looking rim. He had the Stoll brothers on his back, and it looked as if both of them had taken some nasty whacks to the head. Connor Stoll had two arrows sticking out of his helmet like antennae.

"The Hunters win!" Chiron announced without pleasure. Then he muttered, "For the fifty-sixth time in a row."

I stormed toward Percy, "Perseus Jackson!"

Blue sparks flickered on my armor. I was beyond pissed. I was furious.

"What in the name of the gods were you THINKING?" I yelled.

He balled his fists. Seemingly tauntingly, he shook the flag in my face. "I got the flag, Thalia! I saw a chance and I took it!"

"I WAS AT THEIR BASE!" I over-exaggerated slightly. "But the flag was gone. If you hadn't butted in, we would've won."

"You had too many on you!"

"Oh, so it's my fault?"

"I didn't say that."

"Argh!" I pushed him, and a passed a shock through his body. It blew him backward ten feet into the water. Some of the campers gasped.

"Sorry!" I said, turning pale. "I didn't mean to-"

I heard a couple of the Hunters stifling laughs. I glanced back at them and they were pointing at Percy.

Percy's head poked up, glaring at the Hunters. I felt a change in the wind, as if it were moving quickly in a circular motion. A wave erupted from the creek and blasted into my face, dousing me from head to toe.

Percy stood up. "Yeah," he growled. "I didn't mean to, either. After losing my best friend to some stupid eternal girls club you'd think I'd be happy."

I was breathing heavily. Some of the Hunters watched in question.

"Enough!" Chiron ordered.

But I held out my spear. "You want some, Seaweed Brain?"

Percy looked furious now. "Bring it on, Pinecone Face!"

He raised Riptide, but I yelled and a blast of lightning came down from the sky, hit my spear like a lightning rod and slammed into my chest.

More campers gasped. A few more of the Hunters were laughing.

Percy fell to the ground hard. Then, a presence appeared. Everyone looked at the sky. I could see the wind now. It was moving in a circular motion, not fast enough to throw anyone off, but fast enough so that it was visible. Then I realized what it was. A very weak, but visible hurricane... and we were in the eye.

"Thalia!" Chiron persisted. "That is _enough_!"

Percy got up slowly, rage and fury in his eyes. He willed the entire creek to rise and it swirled up behind him. Hundreds of gallons of water in a massive icy funnel cloud.

I heard Nico whisper somewhere behind me, "Cool."

More campers gasped and the Hunters stopped laughing. It took all my will, but I got the nerve to say, "Don't you dare."

"Percy!" Chiron pleaded.

Percy started to move his hands forward, but something caught his eye and the creek fell back into the creek bed. The mini hurricane completely died down and it felt much warmer than before.

I was so surprised, I turned to see what he was looking at. It was shrouded in a murky green mist, and as it got closer, the campers and Hunters gasped.

"This is impossible," Chiron said in disbelief. He also sounded quite nervous. "It... she has never left the attic. Never."

However, the mummy that held the Oracle shuffled forward until she stood in the center of the group. Mist curled around our feet, turning the snow a sickly shade of green.

Nobody dare to move. Then her voice hissed inside my head. I saw multiple people clutch their hands over the ears. I winced, but didn't cover my ears.

_I am the spirit of Delphi_, the voice said. _Speaker of the prophecies of Phoebus Apollo,_  
_slayer of the mighty Python_.

The Oracle stared at Percy before it turned toward Zoe. _Approach, Seeker, and ask._

Zoe swallowed nervously. "What must I do to help my goddess?"

The Oracle's mouth opened, and green mist poured out. I saw the vague image of a mountain and a girl standing at the barren peak. All of the Hunters gasped. It was Artemis, but she was covered in chains, bound to the rocks. She was kneeling, her hands raised holding something. It looked like she was in a lot of pain. I recognized this mountain. Mount Tamalpais in California. Then, the Oracle spoke:

_Five shall go west to the goddess in chains,_

_One shall be lost in the land without rain,_

_The bane of Olympus shows the trail,_  
_  
Campers and Hunters combined prevail,_

_The Titan's curse must one withstand,_

_And one shall perish by a parent's hand._

Then, as we were watching, the mist swirled and retreated like a great green serpent into the mummy's mouth. The Oracle sat down on a rock and became as still as she'd been earlier today. She sat as she would sit in the attic, as if she might sit by this creek for a hundred years.

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**


	7. Percy's Got Mixed Emotions

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**I will also be making two other stories along side this one.**

**One is a Pertemis FanFic and one is going to be about Percy/Zoe**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST.**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

Chapter 7: Percy's Got Mixed Emotions

**Grover's POV**

Percy grumbled as we carried the Oracle back to the Big House.

When the Oracle had sat down on the rock next to the creek, someone was elected to carry the Oracle back. That someone was named Percy Jackson. Because I'm his best friend, I volunteered to help him.

"Stupid Oracle, can't even walk back to the attic herself," Percy grumbled as we entered the Big House.

As we went up the stairs, I warned him, "Watch her head!"

I was too late. _Bonk!_Percy whacked her mummified face against the trap door frame and dust flew.

"Ah, man." Percy set her down and checked for damage. "Did I break anything?"

"Not on my end," I said.

Huffing and sweating, we hauled her up and set her on the tripod stool.

"Who knew a mummy could weigh so much?" I asked.

Percy shrugged, "I don't care."

When we got out of the attic and slammed the door shut, I checked my hands. There were some bits of rotten flesh stuck to my leg fur.

"Well," I said as I brushed the flesh off. "That was gross."

Percy looked down. I couldn't blame him. It was because he decided to go after the flag that the campers had lost. Now, the entire camp would be mad at him for losing the game. Added on to that, Percy's got Thalia pissed at him. I've experienced an enraged Thalia. It's not a pretty sight.

Then, I thought about the prophecy. Campers and Hunters would be going to save Annabeth. I sighed. Remembering about what Dr. Thorn said about the Great Stirring, a little hope formed in my head. Maybe the ancient powers aren't all evil. Maybe... maybe Pan is awakening too.

"What will Chiron do?" Percy asked me.

"I wish I knew." I looked out the second-floor window at the rolling hills covered in snow. "I want to be out there."

"Searching for Annabeth?"

I had a little trouble focusing on what he said because of the thoughts of Pan. "Oh, right. That too. Of course."

"Why?" Percy asked. "What were you thinking?"

I clopped my hooves. I felt nervous about whether I could be correct or not. "Just something the manticore said, about the Great Stirring. I just think... that maybe out of all those ancient powers that are waking up, maybe... maybe not all of them are evil."

"You mean Pan."

"Yeah. I've let the trail go cold," I said. "I feel restless, like I'm missing something really important. He's out there somewhere. I can just feel it."

Percy sighed. He rubbed his temples. "Same with me about Annabeth..."

We both stared out of the window for a few seconds when Percy started banging his head on the wall. "Percy? What are you doing?" I asked, nervous about my friends mental help.

"I'm frustrated," he responded, not taking a break from pounding his head on the wall.

"Why?"

"I... I think I like Annabeth. But then I also have some sort of feeling for Thalia," he sighed. "Good job, Percy. You like a Hunter-to-be and a girl who hates you."

I was about to respond when Thalia stomped up the stairs. When she reached the top, she had a glaring contest with Percy. After about 10 seconds, she turned to me and said, "Tell Percy to get his butt downstairs."

"You can't tell me what to do," Percy retorted.

"I can do what I please to do," she sneered.

"Says who?"

"Says me!"

"Yeah. Says the person who isn't important."

"Shut up, Seaweed Brain!"

"Pinecone Face!"

Well they sure fight like an old married couple, I thought dryly.

"Okay. For what?" I asked, breaking up the argument.

"Dionysus is calling a council of cabin leaders to discuss the prophecy," she said. "Unfortunately, that includes Percy."

**Thalia's POV**

The council was held around a Ping-Pong table in the rec room. Dionysus waved his hand and supplied snacks: Cheez Whiz, crackers, and several bottles of red wine. Then Chiron reminded him that wine was against his restrictions and most of us were underage. Mr. D sighed. With a snap of his fingers the wine turned to Diet Coke. Nobody drank that either.

Mr. D and Chiron (in wheelchair form) sat at one end of the table. Zoe and Bianca di Angelo (who had kind of become Zoe's personal assistant) took the other end. Grover, Percy and I sat along the right, and the other head councilors-Charles Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, and the Stoll brothers-sat on the left. The Ares kids were supposed to send a representative, too, but all of them had gotten broken limbs (accidentally) during capture the flag, courtesy of the Hunters. They were resting up in the infirmary.

As we sat down, Zoe started the meeting. "This is pointless."

Grover glanced down and saw the food. "Cheez Whiz!" he gasped. He scooped up crackers and Ping-Pong balls and sprayed them with the topping.

"There is no time for talk," Zoe continued. "Our goddess needs us. The Hunters must leave immediately."

"And go where?" Chiron asked.

"West!" Bianca said. After spending a few days with the Hunters, she looked completely different than the girl under the floppy green hat. Her dark hair was braided like Zoe's and you could actually see her face. She had freckles splashed across her nose, and her dark eyes kept reminding me of someone I should know very well. She looked like she'd been working out, and her skin glowed faintly, like the other Hunters. "You heard the prophecy. _Five shall go west to the goddess in chains._We can get five Hunters and go."

"Yes," Zoe agreed. "Artemis is being held hostage! We must find her and free her."

"You're missing something, as usual." I rolled my eyes. "_Campers and Hunters combined prevail._We're supposed to do this together."

"No!" Zoe persisted. "The Hunters do not need thy help."

"_Your_," I grumbled. "Nobody has said _thy_in, like, three hundred years, Zoe. Get with the times."

Zoe hesitated. Trying to say the word correctly, she faltered, "_Yerrr_. We do not need _yerrr_help."

I rolled my eyes. "Forget it."

"I fear the prophecy says you_ do_need our help," Chiron said. "Campers and Hunters must cooperate in this quest."

"Or do they?" Mr. D mused. He swirled his Diet Coke under his nose. "_One shall be lost. One shall perish._ That sounds rather nasty, doesn't it? What if you fail _because_you try to cooperate?"

"Then what's the point of putting in _Campers and Hunters combined prevail_?" Percy asked.

Stupid idiot. Why can't he learn to keep his mouth shut?

Dionysus looked at Percy. "Learn your manners, Perry."

"It's Percy, sir."

"Whatever."

"We're supposed to work together," I persisted. "I don't like it either, Zoe, but you know prophecies. You want to fight against one?"

Zoe grimaced. Beating Hunters in arguments is easy, I thought.

"We must not delay," Chiron warned. "Today is Sunday. This very Friday, December twenty-first, is the winter solstice."

_It's a good thing I'm not turning sixteen this year_, I thought.

"Oh, joy," Dionysus muttered. "Another dull annual fighting... I mean meeting."

"Artemis must be present at the solstice," Zoe said. "She has been one of the most vocal on the council arguing for action against Kronos' minions. If she is absent, the gods will decide nothing. We will lose another year of war preparations."

"What about Athena?" Percy asked.

Zoe turned toward him. "She will not get anything done because of your father. They always bicker about the most pointless things."

"Are you suggesting that the gods have trouble acting together, young lady?" Dionysus asked.

"Yes, Lord Dionysus."

Mr. D nodded. "Just checking. You're right, of course. Carry on."

"I must agree with Zoe," said Chiron. "Artemis' presence at the winter council is critical. We have only a week to find her. And possibly even more important: to located the monster she was hunting. Now, we must decide who goes on this quest."

"Three and two," Percy said.

Everybody looked at him. His outburst caught me by surprise and I forgot to glare at him.

"We're supposed to have five," he continued. "Three Hunters, two from Camp Half-Blood. That's more than fair."

Zoe and I exchanged looks.

"Well," I said. "It does make sense."

Zoe grunted. "I would prefer to take _all _the Hunters. We will need strength of numbers."

_And change fate? I don't think so,_I thought.

"You'll be retracing the goddess' path," Chiron reminded her. "Moving quickly. No doubt Artemis tracked the scent of this rare monster, whatever it is, as she moved west. You will have to do the same. The prophecy was clear: _The bane of Olympus shows the trail_. What would your mistress say? 'Too many Hunters spoil the scent.' A small group is best."

Zoe picked up a Ping-Pong paddle and studied it. I still felt like hitting her. "This monster-the bane of Olympus. I have hunted at Lady Artemis' side for many years, yet I have no idea what this beast might be."

Everybody looked at Dionysus because he was the only god present and gods are usually supposed to know stuff. But with Dionysus, I wasn't sure. He was flipping through a wine magazine, but when everyone got silent he glanced up, "Well, don't look at me. I'm a _young_god, remember? I'm only as old as that Harry Cleese guy. The Giant War. Besides, ancient monsters and titans don't make a wonderful party conversation do they."

"Harry Cleese?" asked Connor Stoll.

"Heracles," Zoe spit his name out.

"Such a lucky dude. There's no way he could've gotten those apples of the Garden of Hesperides. Stupid, rotten luck." Percy muttered. Then, in a louder voice, he asked, "Chiron. You don't have any ideas about the monster?"

Chiron pursed his lips. "I have several ideas, none of them good. And none of them quite make sense. Typhon, for instance, could fit this description. He was truly a bane of Olympus. Or the sea monster Keto. But if either of these were stirring, we would know it. They are ocean monsters the size of skyscrapers. You father, Poseidon, would already have sounded the alarm. I fear this monster may be more elusive. Perhaps even more powerful."

"That's some serious danger you're facing," Connor said. "It sounds like at least two of the five are going to die."

_I like how he said you and not we,_I thought.

"_One shall be lost in the land without rain,_" Beckendorf said. "If I were you, I'd stay out of the desert."

There was a muttering of agreement.

"And _the Titan's curse must one withstand_," Silena said. "What could that mean?"

I thought about this. What were some Titan's curses? I couldn't think of one off the top of my mind.

"_One shall perish by a parent's hand_," Grover said in between bites of Cheez Whiz and Ping-Pong balls. "How is that possible? Whose parent would kill them?"

There was a heavy silence around the table.

I refused to look at Percy. As much as I wanted to, I had to keep my dignity. Although, I also couldn't help but think that it was possible for Zeus to kill me, or for Poseidon to kill Percy. It would sure as Hades make things easier for the gods. Except for the fact that by then, Kronos would be at full power.

Against my will, I looked over at Percy. I was staring at me, but had a lost look in his eyes. He was thinking. I wondered if he was thinking about the same thing as me. I tried thinking of reassuring thoughts. If my father wanted to turn against me, he wouldn't have saved me from dying all those years ago.

"There will be deaths," Chiron concluded. "That much we know."

"Oh, goody!" Dionysus said.

Everyone looked at him. He glanced up innocently from the pages of _Wine Connoisseur_magazine. "Ah, pinot noir is making a comeback. Don't mind me."

"Percy is right," Silena said. "Two campers should go."

"Oh, I see," Zoe said sarcastically. "And I suppose you wish to volunteer?"

Silena blushed. "I'm not going anywhere with the Hunters. Don't look at me!"

"A daughter of Aphrodite does not wish to be looked at," Zoe scoffed. "What would thy mother say?"

Silena started to get out of her chair, but the Stoll brothers pulled her back.

"Stop it," Beckendorf said. He was a big guy with a bigger voice. He didn't talk much, but when he did, people tended to listen... like me. "Let's start with the Hunters. Which three of you will go?"

Zoe stood. "I shall go, of course, and I will take Phoebe. She is our best tracker."

"The big girl who likes to hit people on the head?" Travis Stoll asked carefully.

Zoe nodded.

"The one who put the arrows in my helmet?" Connor added.

"Yes," Zoe snapped irritably. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing," Travis said. "Just that we have a T-shirt for her from the camp store." He held up a big silver T-shirt that said ARTEMIS THE MOON GODDESS, FALL HUNTING TOUR 2002, with a huge list of national parks and stuff underneath. "It's a collector's item. She was admiring it. You want to give it to her?"

I tried hiding a smirk. The Hunters would get whatever the Stolls planned for them. It was a good thing Zoe didn't know them as well as the campers. She just sighed and took the T-shirt. "As I was saying, I will take Phoebe. And I wish Bianca to go."

Bianca looked stunned. "Me? But... I'm so new. I wouldn't be any good."

"You will do fine," Zoe insisted. "There is no better way to prove thyself."

However, there seemed to be an undertone to Zoe's voice... as if she was implying something. She seemed like she wanted Bianca to rise quickly in the Hunters' ranks. Why would she want to do that? I thought to myself.

"And for campers?" Chiron asked. He and Percy met eyes. I could sense that he didn't want Percy to go.

"Me!" Grover stood up so fast he bumped the Ping-Pong table. He brushed cracker crumbs and Ping-Pong ball scraps off his lap. "Anything to help Artemis!"

Zoe wrinkled her nose. "I think not, satyr. You are not even a half-blood."

"But he_ is_a camper," I said. I made sure that Percy wouldn't go on this quest. "And he's got a satyr's senses and woodland magic. Can you play a tracker's song yet, Grover?"

"Absolutely!"

Zoe wavered. I didn't know what a tracker's song was, but apparently Zoe thought it was a good thing.

"Very well," Zoe sighed. "And the second camper?"

"I'll go." I stood and glared around, daring anyone to question me.

Percy halted us. "Whoa, wait a sec. I want to go too."

I said nothing, but turned to him, keeping my expression cold.

"Oh," Grover said, suddenly aware of the problem. "Whoa, yeah, I forgot! Percy has to go. I didn't mean... I'll stay. Percy should go in my place."

I was about to retort, but Zoe beat me to it. "He cannot. He is a boy. I won't have Hunters traveling with a boy."

"You traveled here with me," Percy fought back.

"That was a short-term emergency, and it was ordered by the goddess. I will not go across country and fight many dangers in the company of a boy."

"What about Grover?" Percy demanded.

Zoe shook her head. "He does not count. He's a satyr. He is not technically a boy."

"Hey!" Grover protested.

"I _have_to go," I said. "I need to be on this quest."

"Why?" Zoe asked. "Because of thy friend Annabeth?"

His eyes met with mine. They turned steely. "Yes. I need to find Annabeth. I need... I need to tell her something."

On the outside I appeared calm, but cold. However, on the inside, I felt as if my insides broke. I probably just ruined my friendship with Percy, not to mention... anything else. It also seemed as if he knew I harbored certain emotions for him.

Nobody rose to his defense however. Everyone was either staring at the table or giving him looks of pity.

"No," Zoe said flatly. "I insist upon this. I will take a satyr if I must, but not a male hero."

Chiron sighed. "The quest is for Artemis. The Hunters should be allowed to approve their companions."

Percy looked stunned. He stared at Chiron incredulously for a few seconds before turning around and walking straight through the front door and out of the Big House.

Nobody moved. Chiron looked sad and started forward before deciding against it. Chiron concluded the council.

"So be it," he said. "Thalia and Grover will accompany Zoe, Bianca and Phoebe. You shall leave at first light. And may the gods"-he glanced at Dionysus-"present company included, we hope-be with you."

**Percy's POV**

My heart felt heavy. I couldn't go save Annabeth... and Artemis, but mainly Annabeth. That night, I didn't show up for dinner, which was a mistake, because Chiron and Grover came looking for me.

"Percy, I'm so sorry!" Grover said, sitting next to me on the bunk. "I didn't know they'd-that you'd-Honest!"

He started sniffling and I figured that if his mood got worse, he'd either start bawling or chewing up my mattress. He tends to eat household objects whenever he gets upset.

"It was just a mistake," I lied. "No harm done."

Grover's lower lip trembled. "I wasn't even thinking... I was so focused on helping Artemis. But I promise, I'll look everywhere for Annabeth. If I can find her, I will."

I just stared at the wall. Mixed emotions were flooding through me. I was disappointed that I couldn't go find Annabeth, but also I was mad that I basically rejected Thalia. It was kind of ironic because I don't even think she likes me.

"Grover," Chiron said softly, "perhaps you'd let me have a word with Percy?"

"Sure," he sniffled.

Chiron waited,

"Oh," Grover realized. "You mean alone. Sure, Chiron." He looked at me miserably. "See? Nobody needs a goat."

_Yeah... Annabeth needs a goat_, I thought, remembering back to this previous summer when we went to the Sea of Monsters and Annabeth pretended to be Nobody.

Grover trotted out the door, blowing his nose on his sleeve.

Chiron sighed and knelt on his horse legs. "Percy, I don't pretend to understand prophecies."

"Yeah," I said. "Well, maybe that's because they don't make any sense."

Chiron gazed at the saltwater spring gurgling in the corner of the room. "Thalia would not have been my first choice to go on this quest. She's too impetuous. She acts without thinking. She is too sure of herself."

"Thanks a lot."

Chiron's confused look stared at me.

"A wise person once said to me, 'You guys are so much alike it's scary.'"

"Annabeth?"

I nodded. "Well... it is true. You and Thalia are much alike," Chiron said. Then he smiled. "The difference is that you are less sure of yourself than Thalia. That could be good or bad. But one thing I can say: both of you together would be a dangerous thing."

"Not really..."

"So you are saying that what happened at the creek was safe?"

I didn't answer. He was right.

"Perhaps it is for the best," Chiron mused. "You can go home to your mother for the holidays. If we need you, we can call."

"Yeah," I said. "Maybe."

I pulled Riptide out of my pocket and set it on my nightstand. It didn't seem that I'd be using it for anything but writing Christmas cards.

When he saw the pen, Chiron grimaced. "It's no wonder Zoe doesn't want you along, I suppose. Not while you're carrying that particular weapon."

I didn't understand what he meant. Then I remembered that when he gave me the magic pen, he had said: _It has a long and tragic history, which we need not go into_.

I was about to ask him about that, but he pulled out a golden drachma from his saddlebag and tossed it to me before I could. "Call your mother, Percy. Let her know you're coming home in the morning. And, ah, for what it's worth... I almost volunteered for the quest myself. I would have gone, if not for the last line."

"_One shall perish by a parent's hand._Yeah."

I didn't need to ask what he meant. I learned in the previous summer that Kronos was Chiron's dad. If Chiron went on the quest, it would end tragically for him. What a dad... Don't even care for your own children...

"Chiron," I said. "You know what this Titan's curse is, don't you?"

His face darkened. He made a claw over his heart and pushed outward-an ancient gesture for warding off evil. "Let us hope the prophecy does not mean what I think. Now, good night, Percy. And your time will come. I'm convinced of that. There's no need to rush."

He said _your time_ the way people did when they meant _your death_. I didn't know if Chiron meant it that way, but the look in his eyes made me scared to ask.

After he left, I got up and stood at the saltwater spring. Rubbing Chiron's coin, I tried to figure out what to say to my mom. I really wasn't in the mood to have one more adult tell me that doing nothing was the greatest thing I could do, but I figured my mom deserved an update.

Finally, I took a deep breath and threw in the coin. "O goddess, accept my offering."

The mist shimmered. The light from the bathroom was just enough to make a faint rainbow.

"Show me Sally Jackson," I said. "Upper East Side, Manhattan."

And when the image cleared up, the scene in the mist was one I did not expect. My mom was sitting at our kitchen table with some... guy. They were laughing hysterically. There was a big stack of textbooks between them. The man was, I don't know, thirty-something, with longish salt-and-pepper hair and a brown jacket over a black T-shirt. He looked like an actor-like a guy who might play an undercover cop on television.

I was too stunned to say anything, and fortunately, my mom and the guy were too busy laughing to notice my Iris-message.

The guy said, "Sally, you're a riot. You want some more wine?"

"Ah, I shouldn't. You go ahead if you want."

"Actually, I'd better use your bathroom. May I?"

"Down the hall," she said, trying not to laugh.

The actor dude smiled and got up and left.

"Mom!" I said.

She jumped so hard she almost knocked her textbooks off the table. Finally she focused on me. "Percy! Oh, honey! Is everything okay?"

"What are you doing?" I demanded.

She blinked. "Homework."

I eyed her suspiciously. Then she seemed to understand the look on my face. "Oh, honey, that's just Paul-um, Mr. Blofis. He's in my writing seminar."

With my son of Poseidon ears, I asked, "Mr. Blowfish?"

"_Blofis._He'll be back in a minute, Percy. Tell me what's wrong."

She always knew when something was wrong. I told her about Annabeth. The other stuff too, but mostly it boiled down to Annabeth.

My mother's eyes teared up. I could tell she was trying hard to keep it together for my sake. "Oh, Percy..."

"Yeah. So they tell me there's nothing I can do. I guess I'll be coming home."

She turned her pencil around in her fingers. "Percy, as much as I want you to come home"-she sighed like she was mad at herself-"as much as I want you to be safe, I want you to understand something. You need to do whatever you think you have to."

I stared at her. "What do you mean?"

"Thalia is going, correct?"

I nodded. She continued her 'speech.'

"I mean, do you really, deep down, believe that you have to help save her? Do you think you need to help Thalia because it's the right thing to do? Because I know one thing about you, Percy. Your heart is always in the right place. Listen to it."

"You're... you're telling me to go?"

My mother pursed her lips. "I'm telling you that... you're getting too old for me to tell you what to do. I'm telling you that I'll support you, even if what you decide to do is dangerous. I can't believe I'm saying this."

"Mom-"

The toilet flushed down the hall in our apartment.

"I don't have much time," my mom said. "Percy, whatever you decide, I love you. And I _know_you'll do what's best for Annabeth and Thalia."

"How can you be sure? And what's with including Thalia in this?"  
"Because they care about you in ways you don't know. They'd both do the same for you."

And with that, my mother waved her hand over the mist, and the connection dissolved, leaving me with one final image of her new friend, Mr. Blowfish, smiling down at her.

I don't remember falling asleep, but I remember the dream.

I was back in that barren cave, the ceiling heavy and low above me. Annabeth was kneeling under the weight of a dark mass that looked like a pile of boulders. She was too tired even to cry out. Her legs trembled. Any second, I knew she would run out of strength and the cavern ceiling would collapse on top of her.

"How is our mortal guest?" a male voice boomed.

It wasn't Kronos. Kronos' voice was raspy and metallic, like a knife scraped across stone. I'd heard it taunting me many times before in my dreams. But this voice was deeper and lower, like a bass guitar. Its force made the ground vibrate.

Luke emerged from the shadows. He ran to Annabeth, knelt beside her, then looked back at the unseen man. "She's fading. We must hurry."

The hypocrite. Like he really cared what happened to her.

The deep voice chuckled. It belonged to someone in the shadows, at the edge of my dream. Then a meaty hand thrust someone forward into the light—Artemis—her hands and feet bound in celestial bronze chains.

I gasped. Her silvery dress was torn and tattered. Her face and arms were cut in several places, and she was bleeding ichor, the golden blood of the gods.

"You heard the boy," said the man in the shadows. "Decide!"

Artemis's eyes flashed with anger. I didn't know why she just didn't will the chains to burst, or make herself disappear, but she didn't seem able to. Maybe the chains prevented her, or some magic about this dark, horrible place.

The goddess looked at Annabeth and her expression changed to concern and outrage. "How dare you torture a maiden like this!"

"She will die soon," Luke said. "You can save her."

Annabeth made a weak sound of protest. My heart felt like it was being twisted into a knot. I wanted to run to her, but I couldn't move.

"Free my hands," Artemis said.

Luke brought out his sword, Backbiter. With one expert strike, he broke the goddess's handcuffs.

Artemis ran to Annabeth and took the burden from her shoulders. Annabeth collapsed on the ground and lay there shivering. Artemis staggered, trying to support the weight of the black rocks.

The man in the shadows chuckled. "You are as predictable as you were easy to beat, Artemis."

"You surprised me," the goddess said, straining under her burden. "It will not happen again."

"Indeed it will not," the man said. "Now you are out of the way for good! I knew you could not resist helping a young maiden. That is, after all, your specialty, my dear."

Artemis groaned, "You know nothing of mercy, you swine."

"On that," the man said, "we can agree. Luke, you may kill the girl now."

"No!'" Artemis shouted.

Luke hesitated. "She—she may yet be useful, sir.. Further bait."

"Bah! You truly believe that?"

"Yes, General. They will come for her. I'm sure."

The man considered. "Then the dracaenae can guard her here. Assuming she does not die from her injuries, you may keep her alive until winter solstice. After that, if our sacrifice goes as planned, her life will be meaningless. The lives of all mortals will be meaningless."

Luke gathered up Annabeth's listless body and carried her away from the goddess.

"You will never find the monster you seek," Artemis said. "Your plan will fail."

"How little you know, my young goddess," the man in the shadows said. "Even now, your darling attendants begin their quest to find you. They shall play directly into my hands. Now, if you'll excuse us, we have a long journey to make. We must greet your Hunters and  
make sure their quest is… challenging."

The man's laughter echoed in the darkness, shaking the ground until it seemed the whole  
cavern ceiling would collapse.

Then, I woke with a start. I was sure I'd heard a loud banging. I looked around the cabin. It was dark outside. The salt spring still gurgled. No other sounds but the hoot of an owl in the woods and the distant surf on the beach. In the moonlight, on my nightstand was Annabeth's New York Yankees camp. I stared at it for a second before someone... or something pounded on my door.

_BANG! BANG!_

I grabbed Riptide and got out of bed.

"Hello?" I called. _THUMP. THUMP._I crept to the door.

I uncapped the blade, flung open the door, and found myself face-to-face with a black pegasus.

_Whoa, boos!_ It's voice spoke in my mind as it clopped away from the sword blade. _I don't wanna be a horse-ke-bob!_

It's black wings spread in alarm, and the wind buffeted me back a step.

"Blackjack," I said, relieved but a little irritated. "It's the middle of the night!"

Blackjack huffed. _Ain't either, boss. It's five in the morning. What you still sleeping for?_

"How many times have I told you? Don't call me boss."

_Whatever you say, boss. You're the man. You're my number one._I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and tried not to let the pegasus read my thoughts. That's the problem with being Poseidon's son: since he created horses out of sea foam, I can understand most equestrian animals, but they can understand me, too. Sometimes, like in Blackjack's case, they kind of adopt me.

See, Blackjack had been a captive on board Luke's ship last summer, until we'd caused a little distraction that allowed him to escape. I'd really had very little to do with it, seriously, but Blackjack credited me with saving him.

"Blackjack," I said, "you're supposed to stay in the stables."

_Meh, the stables. You see Chiron staying in the stables?_

"Well… no."

_Exactly. Listen, we got another little sea friend needs your help._

"Again?"

_Yeah. I told the hippocampi I'd come get you._

I groaned. Anytime I was anywhere near the beach, the hippocampi would ask me to help them with their problems. And they had a lot of problems. Beached whales, porpoises caught in fishing nets, mermaids with hangnails—they'd call me to come underwater and help.

"All right," I said. "I'm coming."

_You're the best, boss._

"And don't call me boss!"

Blackjack whinnied softly. It might've been a laugh.

I looked back at my comfortable bed. My bronze shield still hung on the wall, dented and unusable. And on my nightstand was Annabeth's magic Yankees cap. On an impulse, I stuck the cap in my pocket. I guess I had a feeling, even then, that I wasn't coming back to my cabin for a long, long time.

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**


	8. Percy's Promises Against Fate

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**I will also be making two other stories along side this one.**

**One is a Pertemis FanFic and one is going to be about Percy/Zoe**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST.**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**Just in case you were wondering, I update according to the chapters in the real book. So for example, this chapter in the real book is shorter than the previous chapter so therefore, this chapter is shorter than the previous chapter in the FanFic.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

Chapter 8: Percy's Promises Against Fate

**Percy's POV**

Blackjack gave me a ride down the beach, and I have to admit it was cool. Being on a flying horse, skimming over the waves at a hundred miles an hour with the wind in my hair and the sea spray in my face- hey, it beats waterskiing any day.

_Here._ Blackjack slowed and turned in a circle. _Straight down._

"Thanks." I tumbled off his back and plunged into the icy sea.

I'd gotten more comfortable doing stunts like that in the past year or so. I could pretty much move however I wanted to underwater, just by willing the ocean currents to change around me and propel me along. It was just like I expected a child of Zeus to do with air currents. For some reason though, Thalia never did that. I would ask her one day. I could also breathe underwater with no problem at all, and my clothes only got wet if I willed them to.

I willed the ocean currents to speed me down into the darkness.

As I got deeper, I couldn't help but remember the fact that most regular humans couldn't go past two hundred feet deep without crumpling like an aluminum can. For me, however, it wasn't a problem. The pressure never bothered me. It was the same with the darkness of the sea as well. I shouldn't have been able to see in this deep water at night, yet I could see the heat emanating from living forms, and the cold radiating from the currents of the deep ocean water. It's hard to describe. It wasn't like regular seeing, but somewhat like a... thermal sonar.

As I got closer to the bottom, I could make out the shapes of three hippocampi, which were fish-tailed horses or, as my cyclops half-brother says, 'Fish ponies!' They were swimming in a circle around an overturned boat. I sighed and swam toward them. The hippocampi were beautiful to watch. Their fish tails shimmered in a rainbow of colors, glowing phosphorescent. Their manes were white, and they were galloping through the water they way nervous horses do in a thunderstorm. Something was upsetting them.

I got closer and saw the problem. A dark outline of an animal was stuck halfway under the boat and was tangled in a fishing net. It was one of those big nets they use on trawlers to catch everything at once. I hate those things. It was bad enough they drowned porpoises and dolphins, but they also occasionally caught mythological animals. When the nets got tangled, some lazy fisherman would just cut them loose and let the animals die.

I shuddered, _Fish._Before two years ago, I would always wonder why I hated sushi. Now I do. I could never eat one of my father's followers. That would just be horrid and disgusting.

I inspected the mythological creature that got itself stuck. Somehow, it had been mucking around on the bottom of Long Island Sound and had gotten itself tangled in the net of this sunken fishing boat. The boat had shifted as it looked like the animal originally tried getting loose from the net. Unfortunately, it got even more stuck as the net was tangled around the creature in a mess. The wreckage of the hull loomed over the side and looked as if it were ready to collapse on top of the tangled animal.

The hippocampi were swimming around frantically saying_, What do we do? What do we do?_One of them was trying to chew the net, but hippocampi were vegetarians and they were not made for cutting rope. Hippocampi are really strong, but they don't have hands, and they're not (shhh) all that smart.

_Free it, Lord!_A hippocampus said when it saw me. The others joined in, asking the same thing.

I swam in for a closer look at the tangled creature. At first I thought it was a young hippocampus. I'd rescued several of them before. But then I heard a strange sound, something that did not belong underwater:

"Mooooooo!"

I swam next to the trapped creature and saw that it was a cow. I mean... I'd heard of sea cows, like manatees and stuff, but this really was a cow with the back end of a serpent. The front half was a calf- a baby, with black fur and big, sad brown eyes and a white muzzle -and its back half was a black-and-brown snaky tail with fins running down the top and bottom, like an enormous eel.

"Whoa, little one," I said. "Where did you come from?"

The creature looked at me sadly. "Mooo!"

Sadly, I couldn't understand its thoughts. I'm not blessed by Hera. I only speak horse... or zebra.

_We don't know what it is, lord, _one of the hippocampi said._ Many strange things are stirring_.

"Yeah," I murmured. "So I've heard."

I uncapped Riptide, and the sword grew to full length in my hands, its bronze blade gleaming in the dark.

The cow serpent freaked out and started struggling against the net, its eyes full of terror, almost as if it had been killed by celestial bronze before. "Whoa!" I said. "I'm not going to hurt you! Just let me cut the ne."

However, the cow serpent just thrashed around and got even more tangled. The boat started creaking and groaning. The side started to tilt, stirring up the much on the sea bottom and really threatening to topple onto the cow serpent. The hippocampi whinnied in panic and thrashed in the water. That helped so much.

"Okay, okay!" I exclaimed. I capped Riptide and put it back into my pocket. I tried soothing the cow serpent by saying things calmly. Hopefully getting the cow serpent to stop panicking would get the hippocampi to stop thrashing about. I really hoped I would never get stampeded underwater, and I didn't really want to find out. "It's cool. No sword. See? No sword. Calm thoughts. Seagrass. Mama cows. Vegetarianism."

I probably sounded really stupid right now. _Mama cows? What am I thinking?_I thought. I don't think the cow serpent comprehended what I was saying, but it responded to the tone of my voice. The hippocampi calmed down, but were still skittish.

_Free it, lord!_they pleaded.

"Yeah," I said. "I got that part. I'm thinking."

I looked at the cow serpent and studied it. I decided that it was probably a 'she.' But how else could I free the cow serpent when she panicked at the sight of a blade? Like I thought before, it was as if she had seen the dangers that a sword held.

"Alright," I finally told the hippocampi after thinking about it for a couple of minutes. "I need all of you to push exactly the way I tell you."

_Yes, lord,_they obliged.

We started with moving the boat out of the danger zone. It wasn't easy, but with the strength of three horsepower, we managed to shift the wreckage so it was no longer threatening to collapse on the baby cow serpent. _Ha! Three horsepower. I wish I had a Maserati Spyder. 295 horsepower... at least that much._

After we got the boat out of the danger zone, I went to untangle the net, untangling it section by section, getting lead weights and fishing hooks straightened out, yanking out knots around the cow serpent's hooves. It took forever- I mean, it was worse than the time I'd had to untangle all my video game controller wires. The whole time, I kept talking to the cowfish, telling her everything was okay while she mooed and moaned.

"It's okay, Bessie," I said. Don't ask me why I started calling her that. It just seemed like a good cow name. It was basically the same way I had guessed her gender. "Good cow. Nice cow."

Finally, the net came off and the cow serpent zipped through the water and did a happy somersault.

The hippocampi whinnied with joy. _Thank you, lord!_

"Moooo!" The cow serpent nuzzled me and gave me the big brown eyes.

"Yeah," I said. "That's okay. Nice cow. Well... stay out of trouble."

But for some reason, I had a feeling that this cow serpent was more than it seemed... as if trouble would find its way to it after I left it. I shoved the thoughts out of my head, which brought more thoughts to my head. How long had I been underwater? An hour, at least. I had to get back to my cabin before Argus or the harpies discovered I was breaking curfew.

I shot to the surface and broke through. Immediately, Blackjack zoomed down and let me catch hold of his neck. He lifted me into the air and took me back toward the shore.

_Success, boss?_

"Yeah. We rescued a baby... cow serpent. Took forever. Almost got stampeded."

_Good deeds are always dangerous, boss. You saved my sorry mane, didn't you?_

I couldn't help thinking about my dream, with Annabeth crumpled and lifeless in Luke's arms. Here I was rescuing baby monsters, but I couldn't save my best friend.

As Blackjack flew back toward my cabin, I happened to glance at the dining pavilion. I saw a figure- a boy hunkered down behind a Greek column, like he was hiding from someone.

It was Nico, but it wasn't even dawn yet. Nowhere near time for breakfast. What was he doing up there?

I hesitated. The last thing I wanted was more time for Nico to tell me about his Mythomagic game. But something was wrong. I could tell by the way he was crouching.

"Blackjack," I said, "set me down over there, will you? Behind that column."

**Nico's POV**

I couldn't sleep. Although this new camp was filled with a whole bunch of awesome things like a centaur, the wine god, a lava wall, archery fields, a giant forest and a creek and even more, I couldn't seem to get sleep here.

I guess Bianca joining the Hunters was part of the reason. He words kept haunting me. She left me. I still care about her and when I heard she was going on the quest, I was going to try and find a way to accompany Bianca on this quest.

I was listening to the words, _less responsibility_ and _a new family_, echo in my head. Did Bianca want no part of me anymore? No. I refused to believe that. She cares about me. I know it, but she just doesn't want to hang around with me anymore.

The Percy guy is really cool. He has a magic sword and is super powerful. He rose the entire creek in a giant icy storm of water. It was so cool.

Then I heard something faint, but was growing louder. Two voices, two girls to be exact. One of them was my sister. I froze in my bed. Should I take this chance and see what they are talking about. I nodded to myself and waited for the voices to pass the Hermes cabin. I quietly snuck out and followed the two girls to the dining pavilion.

I used the shadows around to blend myself in. I don't know why, but I seem to be lured to the shadows and the darkness. The darkness was a place I liked. Not what you'd expect from a hyper, Mythomagic-loving ten year-old.

I followed them and hid behind a column and peeked around the corner. All of my attention was focused on the dining area. I felt a presence around me, but no one was there so I kept listening to what Zoe and Bianca were saying.

"It _cannot_be cured," Zoe was saying. "Not quickly, at any rate."

"But how did it happen?" my sister asked.

"A foolish prank," Zoe growled. "Those Stoll boys from the Hermes cabin. Centaur blood is like acid. Everyone knows that. They sprayed the inside of that Artemis Hunting Tour T-shirt with it."

"That's terrible!"

"She will live," Zoe said. "But she'll be bedridden for weeks with horrible hives. There is no way she can go. It's up to me... and thee."

"But the prophecy," Bianca said. "If Phoebe can't go, we only have four. We'll have to pick another."

This was the perfect opportunity to come onto the quest with Bianca.

"There is no time," Zoe said. "We must leave at first light. That's immediately. Besides, the prophecy said we would lose one."

"In the land without rain," Bianca said, "but that can't be here."

Yeah, I thought. Lose probably means killed. I wonder who's gonna die. Zoe, Thalia or Grover...

"It might be," Zoe said, though she didn't sound convinced. "The camp has magic borders. Nothing, not even weather, is allowed in without permission. It _could_be a land without rain."

"But—"

"Bianca, hear me." Zoe's voice was strained. "I… I can't explain, but I have a sense that we should not pick someone else. It would be too dangerous. They would meet an end worse than Phoebe's. I don't want Chiron choosing a camper as our fifth companion. And… I don't want to risk another Hunter."

Bianca was silent. "You should tell Thalia the rest of your dream."

"No. It would not help."

"But if your suspicions are correct, about the General—"

"I have thy word not to talk about that," Zoe said. She sounded really sad. "We will find out soon enough. Now come. Dawn is breaking."

I scooted out of the way as they rushed past me.

As the girls sprinted down the steps, Zoe froze, her eyes narrowing. Her hand crept toward her bow, but then Bianca said, "The lights of the Big House are on. Hurry!"

And Zoe followed her out of the pavilion.

I took a deep breath and was about to run after my sister when a familiar voice said behind me, "Wait."

I faltered on the icy steps and spun around to find Percy standing on the steps. "Where did you come from?"

"I've been here the whole time. Invisible."

I looked in awe at Percy. I mouthed the word _invisible._"Wow. Cool."

"How did you know Zoe and your sister were here?"

I blushed. "I heard them walk by the Hermes cabin. I don't... I don't sleep too well at camp. So I heard footsteps, and voices talking. And so... I kind of followed."

Percy nodded. "And now you're thinking about following them on the quest."

I stared at him. "How did you know that?"

"Because if it was my sister, I'd probably be thinking the same thing. But you can't."

_And why not?_I thought. Instead, I said, "Because I'm too young?"

"Because they won't let you. They'll catch you and send you back here. And... yeah, because you're too young. You remember the manticore? There will be lots more like that. More dangerous. Some of the heroes will die. I've faced about five or six monsters worse than that manticore."

"Like who?"

He said quickly, "Three Furies, Minotaur, Medusa, almost got killed by the Chimera, Polyphemus, almost got killed by a Hydra and Ares."

I stood there shocked. "Oh my gods! You faced-"

Percy clamped a hand over my mouth. "No need to announce it to the whole world. And don't wake people up."

Then, an idea popped into my head. "Maybe you're right. I can't go, but _you_can go for me."

"Say what?"

"You can turn invisible. You can go!"

"The Hunters don't like boys," he reminded me. "If they find out-"

"Don't let them find out. Follow them invisibly. Keep an eye on my sister! You have to. Please?"

"Nico-"

"You're planning to go anyway, aren't you?"

I could tell he was about to say no, but when I looked him in the eyes, he gave in.

"Yeah," he said. "I have to find Annabeth... and protect Thalia. I have to help them, even if they don't want me to."

"I won't tell on you," I said. "But you have to promise to keep my sister safe."

"I... that's a big thing to promise, Nico, on a trip like this. I don't think I can necessarily keep her away from all harm. She looks stubborn... like Thalia, you and me. Besides she's already got Zoe, Grover and Thalia-"

"Promise!" I insisted.

"I'll do my best. I promise that."

"Get going, then!" I said. "Good luck!"

He looked hesitant for a moment there. "Tell Chiron-"

"I'll make something up." I smiled crookedly. "I'm good at that. Go on!"

I watched as he ran down the hill and put the cap of invisibility on. I watched as a pure black pegasus swooped down and toss its head to the side and nuzzled the ground. _That must be where Percy is,_I thought.

Then, the black pegasus took off into the sky as Apollo rose up past the horizon.

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**


	9. The Most Famous Dinosaur Isn't One

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**I will also be making two other stories along side this one.**

**One is a Pertemis FanFic and one is going to be about Percy/Zoe**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST.**

**The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**Just in case you were wondering, the length of an update is according to the length of the chapters in the real book.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

Chapter 9: The Most Famous Dinosaur Isn't A Dinosaur

**Thalia's POV**

We swerved on the street at a hundred miles per hour through Manhattan as we headed toward the Lincoln Tunnel. This morning, we left camp to go on our quest. Zoe and Bianca had explained that Phoebe was injured with centaur's blood. How Phoebe managed to get her hands on centaur blood, I don't know.

"What are you doing?" Grover yelled. Zoe had just drifted on the icy road and turned onto W 31st.

"You're going to get us all killed," I yelled.

"I know what I am doing. I have driven since the first automobiles were invented. Thou have not driven anything yet," she replied.

Although I was reluctant to bring it up, I said, "I drove the sun chariot!"

"And almost got us killed!"

"I... I just..." I couldn't tell them about my fear of heights. I do not trust anyone with my secret. I haven't even told Chiron or Luke, or even Annabeth. _Maybe I could trust Percy... Oh what am I saying._

I had a feeling that we were being followed. By what, I don't know. I just had this feeling...

A car honked at us. As Zoe zipped through traffic, cars honked as they waited in their respective lanes.

"Stupid mortals. Always the aggressive males," Zoe grit her teeth. The van skidded through the tunnel. Zoe avoided more cars and zig-zagged between them. As we were passing by, a man showed us his finger... the middle one. Zoe seemed to have saw it before me because she let go of the wheel and held her bow up to the window and rolled it down. The man, whose window was opened hastily dropped back before Zoe could shoot him through the head.

"You can't just threaten people!" I half-screamed at her.

"I can do what I want. I can threaten males who decide to show their _finger_to me."

We kept travelling down past New Jersey, swerving down the highway. She kept a speed of at least 100 MPH all the way down to Maryland. It was surprising we didn't run out of gas before we reached Maryland. We entered the convenience store. I felt another presence again... like someone who was invisible. Then, Grover went outside for a little while to do his tracking spell. Zoe and Bianca went to go purchase whatever the Hades, Hunters bought on quests. Probably some posters of guys to shoot arrows at.

I went to get a hot chocolate. After I purchased it, I sat down at our rendezvous point and thought about Percy. His naïvety, his cluelessness... but somehow I knew that what Annabeth said about Percy isn't completely true. He is pretty smart when he wants to be. I couldn't stop thinking about him these days. _Aphrodite! I swear if you are messing with my mind I will kill you!_

Then, Grover appeared.

"Hey," he said as he sat down.

"Hey," I replied.

Bianca and Zoe appeared from somewhere in the store. They were talking and laughing, but when Zoe saw me, she stopped. Bianca's laugh died down slowly.

"So..." Bianca started.

"I've found the scent of a monster," Grover said.

"How?" I asked.

"Using acorns," he said, getting up. "I think we should get a move on because our destination is still reachable before twelve o'clock."

We got up and followed him. "Where are we going?" I asked.

"Washington D.C."

"D.C.?" Bianca asked.

As we walked out of the store, I said, "Grover, are you sure?"

"Well... pretty sure. Ninety-nine percent. Okay, eighty-five percent."

"And you did this with acorns?" Bianca asked disbelievingly.

Grover looked offended. "It's a time-honored tracking spell. I mean, I'm pretty sure I did it right."

"D.C. is about sixty miles from here," Bianca said. "No and I..." She frowned. "We used to live there. That's... that's strange. I'd forgotten."

"I dislike this," Zoe said. "We should go straight west. The prophecy said west."

"Oh, like your tracking skills are better?" I growled.

Zoe stepped toward me and gave me a glare. "You challenge my skills, you scullion? You know_ nothing_of being a Hunter!"

"Oh, _scullion_. You're calling_ me_a scullion? What the heck is a scullion?"

"Whoa, you two," Grover said nervously. "Come on. Not again!"

"Grover's right," Bianca said. "D.C. is our best bet."

Zoe didn't look convinced, but she nodded reluctantly. "Very well. Let us keep moving."

"You're going to get us arrested, driving," I grumbled. "I look closer to sixteen than you do."

"You both look the same age!" Grover tried breaking up the fight.

Zoe snapped, ignoring Grover, "But I have been driving since automobiles were invented. Let us go."

We continued south to D.C. Zoe and I kept arguing. I still felt that lingering presence around us, but I continued to ignore it.

"You're going to get us all killed!" I yelled as she narrowly missed flipping a car over.

"Shut up! I am just trying to get us there before the sun sets," Zoe yelled back.

"Well you could at least drive-"

"Shut up!" Bianca yelled. "Stop fighting. Just let there be peace and quiet for once."

I scowled at Zoe one last time before shutting my mouth and keeping quiet. The rest of the trip proved to be boring. Zoe would swerve the van and honk every so often, but everybody else was quiet... except for one conversation as we neared Washington D.C.

"So... what do you think our next obstacle is?" Bianca asked.

"It's a monster. I know that for sure," Grover replied.

"I know that, but I'm just wondering... what could possibly be here? It doesn't seem right. We haven't passed through a land without rain. I feel... I feel like the quest is far from completion. Also, I have some sort of feeling that we are going to get another quest member."

"That cannot be true. We have not been followed this entire way. I made sure of that," Zoe said.

I countered her statement. "I've been feeling this presence that follows us. I figured that it wasn't important, but it could be our fifth quest member. Maybe... maybe he or she could help us get west faster."

"Thou are lying."

"Why would I lie? Bianca has a feeling that a fifth member will join us, and I have a feeling that we're being followed. Maybe it is linked somehow?"

In my head I was praying that Percy would show up. Ever since I left camp, my thoughts about Percy increased. I have been thinking about him non-stop since the convenience store in Maryland. I wish he were here to help us. He could think of some crazy plan to help us... or just make matters worse for us.

"Thy friend Percy will not be allowed to join this quest. We will send him back to camp. There is no way that I will allow a _male_," she spat the word out with contempt, "to join us on our quest to save Artemis."

Grover went to Percy's defense. "Percy isn't that bad. He can think of some crazy idea or plan that could help us." However, under his breath, Grover added, "Or make matters worse for us."

I looked at him, puzzled. How was it that we think the same thing about Percy? I focused back on what Grover said and helped him defend Percy. "Yeah. He went into the Sea of Monsters and survived. How many people can say they have done that?"

"Jason. _Hercules_." Zoe listed.

"Still..."

"Percy will turn out like all heroes. Selfish, heart-breaking, cruel-"

"Percy is not like that!" I defended.

"Why do you think so? How long have you known him? How long have you seen him?"

She got me there. I hadn't really come in contact with Percy too much, but enough so that we were pretty good friends. I always thought that maybe we could be more, but that would take a while... especially because I only saw him for half a summer.

"Exactly. You will see Percy's true colors soon," Zoe said.

Then, as we neared the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Grover said, "Stop! Here!"

Zoe parked at the curb. We started getting out. As we got out, we collected on the driver's side of the van. Grover pointed at the Air and Space Museum, "There! That's where it said it was!"

"You got that from acorns?" Bianca asked.

"It's reliable!" Grover bleated.

I nodded and the four of us trudged off into the cold wind toward the museum.

**Percy's POV**

I flew on Blackjack for half of the day before they finally stopped. I had gotten caught by Mr. D on the Chrysler Building, only to be let go to 'go to my death.' Then, when I planned to stop in Maryland at the convenience store that Thalia, Grover, Zoe and Bianca stopped at, they came out, ready to leave. I had to mount Blackjack again and fly off to Washington D.C. I sighed a relief when I saw the van stop.

Weirdly enough, my thoughts went back to what I said to Nico earlier this morning. _Yeah. I have to find Annabeth... and protect Thalia._ Ever since our expedition to Westover Hall, Thalia has been in my thoughts a lot more. _Was I on this quest, not just because I needed to find Annabeth, but to protect Thalia too?_ I was so confused. _Aphrodite. If you are messing with my mind I will kill you._

But I knew somehow that I did want to protect Thalia and keep her from harm. I felt the same way about Thalia that Nico felt about Bianca except I don't think I loved Thalia like a sister. It felt... different.

Blackjack neighed, snapping me out of my thoughts.

_Thinkin' about Zeus' daughter are you?_

I blushed. "Well... yea, but I'm also thinking about Annabeth and how I need to find her."

_Sure. Whatever you say boss._

When they stopped, I focused on Blackjack and heard him panting heavily.

"You okay?" I asked him.

_Fine, boss. I could... I could take on an army._

"You don't sound so good." I immediately felt guilty because I had made Blackjack fly for half a day, nonstop, from Montauk, New York all the way to Washington D.C.

_Don't worry about me, boss! I'm a tough one._

I believed him, but I also believed that without a break soon, Blackjack would be sleeping for a very long time out of exhaustion. As I saw them get out of the van and start heading toward a big white building across the street, I told Blackjack. "Set me down there. That's close enough."

Blackjack was so tired he didn't complain. He dropped toward the Washington Monument and set me on the grass.

I looked at Blackjack. "I want you to go back to camp. Get some rest. Graze. I'll be fine."

Blackjack cocked his head skeptically. _You sure, boss?_

I nodded. "You've done enough already," I said. "I'll be fine. And thanks a ton."

_A ton of hay, maybe,_ Blackjack mused. _That sounds good. Alright, but be careful, boss. I got a feeling they didn't come here to meet anything friendly and handsome like me._

I promised to be careful. Then Blackjack too off, circling twice around the monument before disappearing into the clouds with a new burst of energy of not having to carry me around. Then I looked back and the four quest-members and froze.

A block away, the door of a black sedan opened. A man with grey hair and a military buzz cut got out. He was wearing dark shades and a black overcoat. Now, maybe in Washington, you'd expected guys like that to be everywhere. But it dawned on me that I'd seen this same car a couple of times on the highway, going south. It had been following the van.

They guy took out his mobile phone and said something into it. Then he looked around, like he was making sure the coast was clear, and started walking down the Mall in the direction of my friends.

Recognition dawned on me as I recognized the grey hair, the military buzz cut and the phone. My suspicions were proved when he turned toward me. It was Dr. Thorn, the manticore from Westover Hall.

With the invisibility cap on, I followed Thorn from a distance. My heart was pounding. If _he_had survived that fall from the cliff, then Annabeth must have too. My dreams had been right. She was alive and being held prisoner.

Thorn kept well back from my friends, careful not to be seen.

Grover and the others were walking toward a big white columned building that said NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM. The Smithsonian! I'd been here a million years ago with my mom, but everything had looked so much bigger then.

Thalia checked the door. It was open, but there weren't many people going in. Too cold, and school was out of session so most would be at home about to celebrate Christmas, a holiday of a fake religion called Christianity. They slipped inside.

Dr. Thorn hesitated, as if he were torn between meeting his superiors or just catching my friends himself. He decided to walk away. I wasn't sure why, but he headed to the building down the path from the Air and Space Museum. I made a split-second decision and followed Thorn. I needed to see what he was up to.

Thorn crossed the street and climbed the steps of the Museum of Natural History. There was a big sign on the door. At first I thought it said CLOSE FOR PIRATE EVENT, with my dyslexia, but I realized PIRATE must mean PRIVATE.

I followed Dr. Thorn inside, through an enormous chamber full of mastodons and dinosaur skeletons. There were many voices up ahead, coming from behind a set of closed doors. Two guards stood outside. They opened the doors for Thorn, and I had to sprint to get inside before they closed them again.

Inside, I saw something so terrible, I almost gasped aloud, which probably would've gotten me killed.

I was standing in a large room with a balcony on the second level. Over a dozen mortal guards stood on the balcony armed with pistols. Two monsters stood surrounding a man on both of his sides. They were reptilian women with double-snake trunks instead of legs. I'd seen them before on the Princess Andromeda. Annabeth had called them Scythian dracaenae. The man standing between them wore a scowl on his face. He had a scar down the side of his face that he had gotten long ago when a dragon scratched him. Now, the scar was an ugly red... like Clarisse's eyes... as if it had been reopened recently. His skin was pale and his sandy-blonde hair looked almost grey. His eyes still held the angry light I remembered from last year. That man's name was Luke.

Next to him, a man was sitting down in the shadows so that it covered his face. I couldn't see who he was. The only flesh I could see of him were his knuckles on the arms of his chair.

"Well?" asked the man in the chair. His voice was exactly like the one I'd heard in my dream. This was probably the General. His voice was exactly as I had remembered it. Not creepy like Kronos', but louder and stronger. It seemed as if the world shook when he talked. It filled the whole room even though he wasn't yelling.

Dr. Thorn took off his shades. He made a stiff bow and in his weird French accent, he said, "They are here, General."

"I know that, you fool," boomed the man. "But where?"

"In the rocket museus."

"The Air and Space Museum," Luke corrected irritably.

"As you say, _sir._" Dr. Thorn said Luke's name with a bit of an edge in his voice.

I could easily tell that Thorn would rather impale Luke with one of his spikes instead of calling him sir.

"How many?" Luke asked.

Thorn pretended not to hear.

"_How many_?" the General demanded.

"Four, General," Thorn said. "The satyr, Grover Underwood. And the girl with the spiky black hair and the- how do you say -_punk_clothes and the horrible shield."

"Thalia," Luke said half-smiling, half-grim.

For some reason, in the pit of my stomach, I wanted to pounce at Luke. Did he really think that she would join his side?

"And the two other girls- Hunters. One wears a silver circlet."

"_That_one I know," the General growled.

The General personally knows Zoe? How much did I not know about the people around me? Everyone in the room shifted uncomfortably.

"Let me take them," Luke said to the General. "We have more than enough-"

"Patience," the General said. "They'll have their hands full already. I've sent a little _playmate_to keep them occupied."

"But-"

"We cannot risk you, my boy."

"Yes,_ boy_," Dr. Thorn said with a cruel smile. "You are much too fragile to risk. Let _me_finish them off."

"No." The General rose from his chair, and I got my first look at him.

He was tall and muscular, with light brown skin and slicked-back dark hair. He wore an expensive brown silk suit like the guys on Wall Street wear, but you'd never mistake this dude for a broker. He had a brutal face, huge shoulders, and hands that could snap a flagpole in half. He eyes were like stone. I felt as if I were looking at a living statue. It was amazing he could even move. But those eyes made some thoughts in my head stir. They looked familiar.

"You have already failed me, Thorn," he said.

"But, General-"

"No excuses!"

Thorn flinched. I'd thought Thorn was scary when I first saw him in his black uniform at Westover. But now, standing in front of the General, Thorn looked like a silly wannabe soldier. The General was the real deal. He didn't need a uniform. He was a born commander. More thoughts stirred. He sounded so familiar, but I just couldn't grasp my mind on it.

"I should throw you into Tartarus for your ineptitude," the General said. "I send you to capture a child of the three elder gods, and you bring me a scrawny daughter of Athena."

_Annabeth..._

"But you promised me revenge!" Thorn protested. "A command of my own!"

"_I_am Lord Kronos' senior commander," the General said. "And I will choose the lieutenants who get me results! It was only thanks to Luke that we salvaged our plan at all. Now get out of my sight, Thorn, until I find some other ignominious task for you!"

Thorn turned purple with rage. I thought he would fight back at the General, but all he did was bow stiffly and left the room.

"Now, my boy." The General turned to Luke. "The first thing we must do is isolate the half-blood Thalia. The monster we seek with then come to her."

_The monster they seek? The bane of Olympus? But it shows the trail! It can't be attracted to Thalia only! Unless it's small... like a hippocampus or that cow serpent I saved this morning._

"The Hunters will be difficult to dispose of," Luke said. "Zoe Nightshade-"

"Do not speak her name!"

Luke gulped nervously, "S-sorry, General. I just-"

The General silenced him with a wave of his hand. "Let me show you, my boy, how we will bring the Hunters down."

He pointed to a guard on the ground level. "Do you have the teeth?"

The guy stumbled forward with a ceramic pot. "Yes, General!"

"Plant them," the General said.

I looked over to the ground level where the guard headed to. There was a circle of dirt in the middle of the room where a dinosaur exhibit should have been. I watched with anticipation and nervousness as the guard took sharp white teeth out of the pot and pushed them into the soil. He smoothed them over while the General smiled coldly.

The guard stepped back from the dirt and wiped his hands. "Ready, General!"

"Excellent! Water them, and we will let them scent their prey."

I didn't see how watering a tooth would create a monster that could bring down the Hunters. The guard picked up a little tin water can with daisies painted on it. _How ironic_, I thought, because what was poured out looked like blood.

The soil began to bubble.

"Soon," the General said, "I will show you, Luke, soldiers that will make your army from that little boat look insignificant."

Luke clenched his fists. In anger, he turned to the General. "I've spent a year training my forces! When the _Princess Andromeda_arrives at the mountain..."

I stopped listening from then. _What mountain? There is no mountain on the east coast of the United States. What in the world is he talking about?_

Then, the soil erupted and knocked me out of my thoughts. I stepped back nervously.

In each spot where a tooth had been planted, a creature was struggling out of the dirt. The first of them said:

"Mew?"

It was a kitten... a little orange tabby with stripes like a tiger. Then another appeared, until there were a dozen, rolling around and playing in the dirt. I had a feeling that these weren't the beasts that the General were looking for.

"_What is this? Cute cuddly kittens? Where did you find those teeth?"_the General roared.

The guard who brought the teeth in cowered in fear. "From the exhibit, sir! Just like you said. The saber-toothed tiger-"

"No, you incompetent fool! I said the tyrannosaurus! Gather up those.. those fuzzy little beasts and take them outside. And never let me see your face again."

The terrified guard dropped the watering can. He gathered up the kittens and hobbled out of the room.

"You," the General pointed to another guard. "Get me the_right teeth. NOW!_"

The new guard ran off to carry out the new orders.

"Imbecile," muttered the General.

"This is why I don't use mortals," Luke said. "They are unreliable."

"They are weak-minded, easily bought, and violent," the General said. "I love them."

After a minuted, the guard sprinted into the room huffing and puffing and his hands full of giant teeth. _Definitely Tyrannosaurus teeth_, I thought dryly.

"Excellent," the General licked his lips in anticipation. He jumped down from the balcony railing. Where he landed, the marble floor cracked under his leather shoes. He stood, wincing, and rubbed his shoulders. "Curse my stiff neck."

He snatched up the teeth. "I shall do this myself." He held up one of the teeth and smiled. "Dinosaur teeth- ha! Those foolish mortals don't even know when they have dragon teeth in their possession. And not just _any_dragon teeth. These come from the ancient Sybaris herself! They shall do nicely."

Now I may not be a scholar, but wasn't that a dragon that terrorized the city of Delphi? I don't know how I knew that, but I just remembered it.

The General planted all twelve teeth into the ground. He sprinkled the soil with the red liquid, tossed the can away, and held his arms out wide. The dirt trembled. A single, skeletal hand shot out of the ground, grasping at the air.

The General looked up at one of the dracaena on the balcony. "Quickly, do you have the scent?"

"Yesssss, lord," she replied. She took out a sash of silvery fabric, like the kind the Hunters wore.

"Excellent," the General said. "Once my warriors catch its scent, they will pursue its owner relentlessly. Nothing can stop them, no weapons known to half-blood or Hunter. They will tear the Hunters and their allies to shreds. Toss it here!"

As he said that, skeletons erupted from the ground. Twelve appeared, one for every tooth. They weren't fake like the ones you saw on Halloween, or what you might see in movies. These were the real deal. They started growing flesh, turning into men with dull grey skin, yellow eyes and modern clothes. They wore grey muscle shirts, camo pants, and combat boots. If you didn't look closely, you could almost believe they were human, but their flesh was transparent and their bones shimmered underneath, like a projector mixed with an X-ray camera.

One of them looked straight at me, regarding me coldly. That was when I knew that no cap of invisibility would fool it.

The snake lady released the scarf and it fluttered down toward the General's hand. As soon as he gave it to the warriors, they would hunt Zoe and the others until they were extinct.

I didn't have a choice, nor would I have chosen to stand and watch. I sprinted through the warriors and jumped, snatching the scarf out of the air before the General could catch it.

"What is this?" bellowed the General.

I landed at the feet of a skeleton warrior, who hissed.

"An intruder," the General growled, scanning around the area trying to find me. "One cloaked in darkness. Seal the doors!"

"It's Percy Jackson!" Luke yelled angrily. "It has to be!"

I sprinted for the exit, but heard a tearing sound and realized the skeleton warrior I had landed in front of had ripped off a part of my sleeve. I quickly glanced back as the skeleton sniffed my sleeve and my scent. He started handing it to his friends and I wanted to scream.

_NO! How am I supposed to keep my friends safe now?_

I squeezed through the door just as the guards slammed it shut behind me.

And then I ran.

I tore across the Mall, not daring to see if the skeleton warriors were behind me or not. I burst into the Air and Space Museum and took off my invisibility cap once I was through the admissions area.

I ran around, desperately trying to find my friends. I rounded a corner and ran up a ramp toward the top floor. I didn't see them anywhere.

I was beginning to get desperate. Where could they possibly be? I turned around and sprinted down the ramp. I jumped around the corner and slammed into someone, knocking us both over.

To my surprise, the person I knocked over reacted with amazing speed and grace. The person kneed my 'kids' and flipped me over. The figure and I met and our noses were touching. I felt kind of uncomfortable. It got worse when I saw who it saw. The person was a she, with spiky black hair and freckles splashed across her nose. Those electric blue eyes bored into me and quickly turned to surprise. I allowed myself to blush slightly as she leaned against me in surprise. I felt a tugging motion where I got kneed. _Oh, I hate puberty!_

"Percy! What are you doing here?"

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**


	10. Percy Joins the Quest

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**I will also be making two other stories along side this one.**

**One is a Pertemis FanFic and one is going to be about Percy/Zoe**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST.**

**The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**Just in case you were wondering, the length of an update is according to the length of the chapters in the real book.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

Chapter 10: Percy Joins the Quest

**Thalia's POV**

When we entered the Air and Space Museum, my jaw dropped. The main part of the museum was one huge room with rockets and airplanes hanging from the ceiling. Three levels of balconies curled around, so you could look at the exhibits from all different heights. The place wasn't crowded, just a few families and a couple of tour groups of kids. That was, until some kid came zooming past us.

He sprinted around the corner before I could get a chance to yell at him.

"Come on," I told the others. "Let's teach that maniac of a kid a lesson."

"For what?" Grover asked.

"For almost barrelling us over," I replied.

"Thalia! Why would you do that?" Grover asked.

Honestly, I had no idea. I just felt angry and didn't want to take it out on Grover, Bianca or Zoe. I walked up to the corner that the kid rounded and was about to turn around it when a boy about my age hit me.

He had black hair and was slightly shorter than me, but with the momentum he carried, I was knocked back onto the ground. My defense instincts kicked in and I kneed him where Apollo doesn't shine. I flipped him over and glared at him as our noses touched. What I saw startled me.

The boy had green eyes... sea green eyes. I dropped my butt in surprise.

"Percy? What are you doing here?" Grover asked.

I felt something poking me in the stomach. I glanced at Percy's hands and saw that they were pinned to his sides. _That means..._I blushed and rolled off of Percy.

Zoe and Bianca had drawn their bows to shoot whoever ran into me, but Bianca dropped hers when she saw it was Percy. Zoe, however, wasn't anxious to lower her bow.

"You! How dare you show thy face here?" she snapped.

Percy stared at me pityingly. _I wonder why..._

"Percy! Thank goodness!" Grover sighed in relief. When Zoe glared at him, he blushed, "I mean, um, gods. You're not supposed to be here!"

"Luke's here," Percy said, still staring at me.

My mood dropped. My hand instinctively went to my silver bracelet. "Where?"

Percy told us all about the encounter at the Natural History Museum, Dr. Thorn, Luke and the General.

"The General is _here_?" Zoe stared at him stunned. "That is impossible! You lie."

"Why would I lie? Look, there's no time. Skeleton warriors-"

"Wait, _what_?" I exclaimed. "How many?"

"Twelve," Percy responded. "And that's not all. The General sent a 'playmate,'" he said, making air quotations, "to distract you here. A monster."

I exchanged a look with Grover. Whatever monster Grover tracked, it must have been this one.

"We were following Artemis' trail," Grover said. "I was pretty sure it led here. It was a powerful monster scent... She must've stopped here looking for the mystery monster-"

Percy cut him off. "It's not that one."

We looked at him confused. "What?"

"I suppose you used that tracking spell Thalia was talking about at the meeting right?" he asked Grover.

Grover nodded. Percy continued, "I may not be the dolphin of the sea-"

"Huh?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes like it should've been obvious. "Dolphins are pretty much the smartest ocean creature. Why do you think Delphin was Dad's commander? Anyway, like I was saying, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that the bane of Olympus cannot be under control. It would have to be an untamable monster."

"That's actually..." I trailed off.

"Not bad," Bianca muttered. She turned to Zoe, "But, Zoe. If it _is_the General-"

"It _cannot_be!" Zoe snapped. I got the feeling that she was just trying to convince herself. "Percy must have seen an Iris-message or some other illusion."

"Illusions don't crack marble floors," Percy told her.

_One point for Percy._

If the General is who I think it is, how does Zoe know him?

Zoe took a deep breath, calming herself down. "If Percy _is_telling the truth about the skeleton warriors," she said, "we have no time to argue. They are the worst, the most horrible... We must leave now."

"Good idea," Percy said.

"I was _not_including thee, boy," Zoe said. "You are not part of this quest."

"Right. They're coming after me anyways."

Zoe looked at Percy stunned. "Coming after you?"

"Yeah. When they had a Hunters' outfit, I ripped it out of their hands, but they got a part of my shirt instead."

Zoe looked even more stunned... if that was possible.

"Well, you shouldn't have come, Percy," I said, meeting his eyes and really telling him that I was happy he was here. "But you're here now. Come on. Let's get back to the van."

Percy opened his mouth, but Zoe snapped out of her shock and snapped, "That is not thy decision!"

I scowled at her. "You're not the boss her, Zoe. I don't care how old you are! You're still a conceited little brat!"

"You never had any wisdom when it came to boys," Zoe growled. "You never could leave them behind!"

I was about to punch Zoe. And I would have too if Percy didn't interrupt. "Whoa! Whoa! Calm down! Zoe's right about boys and Thalia's right about teamwork. I-"

A loud roar interrupted him. Below us, a few adults screamed. A little kid's voice screeched with delight: "Kitty!"

Then, something enormous bounded up the ramp. It was the size of a pickup truck. I recognized it from the stories about Greek mythology, except that it was real.

"The Nemean Lion," I said. "Don't move."

Percy growled next to me. "So Luke wants to kill his former friend, eh?"

Zoe said as if Percy wasn't there, "Separate on my mark. Try to keep it distracted."

"Until when?" Grover asked.

"Until I think of a way to kill it. Go!"

I opened my mace canister and rubbed my charm bracelet. A spear and Aegis appeared on my hands. Percy rolled to the left and uncapped Riptide. The shining bronze flashed in the light. I saw Zoe wince when she saw the sword. However, she didn't falter when she climbed up an Apollo capsule. Grover played a frantic, horrible tune, and the lion turned toward him. I stepped into its path and held Aegis up to the lion's face. It roared.

"Hi-yah!" I said. "Back!"

The lion growled and attempted to claw me, but it stayed a ways away from my shield. Then the monster tensed. I got ready for the lion to pounce at me, but Percy yelled, "Hey!"

Being the stupid idiot he is, he slashed at the impenetrable fur of the lion. It roared and turned to him and swiped. The lion ripped a chunk of his coat. He backed against the railing and jumped. The lion jumped after him.

I ran to the railing and peered over. I immediately got woozy. It was only a three story drop, I told myself. I backed away from the railing and ran down the ramp. I appeared on the second floor, when Percy yelled, "Zoe! Target the mouth!"

Then, I looked over again. There was a globe beneath me. _Phew_, I thought.

Then, Percy fell off of a spaceship and onto the North Pole. He slid down Russia and dropped off the equator.

The Nemean Lion tried to steady itself on the spacecraft Percy fell off of, but one of the cords snapped and the display swung like a triple cord swing. The lion leaped off onto model earth's North Pole.

"Grover!" Percy yelled. "Clear the area!"

Kids were running around and screaming everywhere. Grover tried to contain them into a safe spot just as the spacecraft's cords all snapped and it crashed to the floor. I jumped off of the second-floor railing and slid on the globe. I slid over Canada and dropped off of Mexico. The lion swung his head around both sides of the globe, snarling and baring its fangs at me and Percy.

"No clear shot!" Zoe yelled. "Get it to open its mouth more!"

The lion snarled from the top of the globe. I kept my eyes on the lion in case it tried to make a move.

"Thalia!" Percy said, "keep it occupied. I got an idea."

I nodded grimly.

"Hi-yah!" I pointed my spear and electricity flashed out from it, zapping the lion in the tail.

"_ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAR_!" The lion turned and pounced. I narrowly rolled out of the way, and held Aegis up to contain the monster and kept it away from me.

Percy sprinted off to the gift shop.

"This is no time for souvenirs, boy!" Zoe yelled.

The lion and I circled around each other. I kept zapping the lion once in a while to keep it at bay. Arrows showered down on top of the monster. However, it was smart enough not to open its mouth too much and slashed at me with its claws. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw Percy exit the gift shop. I jabbed at the monster and back up. The lion pressed me.

"Percy," I called, "whatever you're going to do-"

I kept myself distracted just long enough for the lion to swat me away. It sent me flying into the side of a Titan rocket. My head hit the metal and I slid to the floor, dazed.

The lion roared at me and was about to pounce.

"Hey!" I heard Percy yell. A flying bronze projectile hit the side of the lion. The lion turned toward Percy and snarled.

Then Percy did the second stupidest thing ever. He charged at the Nemean Lion.

It leaped to intercept him and I thought he was a goner, but then he threw something. I could faintly see it as I was dazed. A glittery packet was thrown into the lion's maw. _Was that... space food?_

The lion stopped in its tracks and started gagging like a cat with a hairball.

"Zoe, get ready!" Percy yelled.

Grover started playing another horrifying tune on his reed pipes. People started screaming in confusion.

Percy scrambled away from the lion.

"Snack time," he yelled.

The lion roared at Percy. And that was its greatest mistake. Percy chucked space food into the lion's mouth. Fortunately, he was great at pitching.

The lion reared up on its back paws, trying to get away from Percy.

"Now!" he yelled.

The arrows, which had stopped their heavy 'rainfall' when Percy got back, whizzed through the air and entered the lion's mouth. It thrashed wildly, turned, and fell backward. Then it was still.

Alarms wailed throughout the museum. People were sprinting to the exits. Security guards were running around in a panic with no idea what was going on. _Grover and his confusion songs._

Speaking of Grover, he knelt at my side and helped me up. I couldn't help but smile at Percy's wacky strategy. Bianca and Zoe dropped from the top balcony and landed next to Percy.

Over the alarms, I could hear her say, "That was... an interesting strategy."

"Hey, it worked."

As I walked over, the lion melted into a glittering fur coat. Even the fur coat seemed to be shrinking though. _What could it possibly turn into...?_

"Take it," Zoe told Percy.

He stared at her. "What, the lion's fur? Isn't that, like, an animals rights violation or something?"

"It is a spoil of war," she told him. "It is rightly thine."

"You killed it," he said.

For a second there, Zoe looked a little surprised. Then she shook her head, with an amused look on her face. Almost smiling, she said to Percy, "I think thy ice-cream sandwich did that. Fair is fair, Percy Jackson. Take the fur."

He lifted the fur. Then, as he inspected it, the pelt shifted and changed into a coat- a full-length golden-brown duster. But before it changed into that, the fur pelt reminded me of who wore it. Hercules. He wore that pelt when he defeated the Nemean Lion.

I admit, Percy didn't look good in that jacket. I almost laughed when he put it on.

"Not exactly my style," Percy murmured.

"We have to get out of here," Grover said. "The security guards won't stay confused for long."

Percy finally noticed the confused guards. A few ran into walls.

"You did that?" he asked Grover.

Slightly dazed, I answered, "A minor confusion song. It doesn't last very-"

I clutched my head in pain. I think I might have a concussion, I thought.

Percy went over to steady me. Grover finished, "What she was saying was that, it doesn't last very long. It could wear out any second now."

Zoe said, "The security guards are not our biggest worry. Look."

I turned my head. There was a small group of men walking across the lawn. Grey men in grey camouflage outfits. These must be the skeleton warriors that are after Percy, I thought woozily.

Percy stepped forward. "Go. They'll be hunting me. I'll distract them."

"No," Zoe said. "We go together."

Percy stared at her. "But... but you said that-"

"You are part of this quest now," Zoe said grudgingly. "As much as I do not like that I must travel with a boy, there is no changing fate. _You_are the fifth quest member. And we are not leaving anyone behind."

Everyone stared at her. Then she smiled.

"Who else would we send to check out life-threatening places?"

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**


	11. We Get a Ride From A God Named Fred

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**I will also be making two other stories along side this one.**

**One is a Pertemis FanFic and one is going to be about Percy/Zoe**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST.**

**The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**Just in case you were wondering, the length of an update is according to the length of the chapters in the real book.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

Chapter 11: We Get a Ride From A God Named Fed

**Percy's POV**

We were crossing the Potomac River when we spotted the helicopter. It was a sleek, black military model; exactly like the one we'd seen at Westover Hall. And it was coming straight toward us.

"They know the van," I said. "We have to ditch it."

Zoe swered into the fast lane. The helicopter was gaining on us.

"Maybe the military will shoot it down," Grover said hopefully.

"The military probably thinks it's one of their own," I replied. "How can the General use mortals, anyway?"

"Mercenaries," Zoe spat bitterly. "It is distasteful, but many mortals will fight for any cause as long as they are paid."

"But don't these mortals see who they're working for?" I asked. "Don't they notice all the monsters around them?"

Zoe shook her head. "I do not know how much they see through the Mist. I doubt it would matter to them if they knew the truth. Sometimes mortals can be more horrible than monsters."

The helicopter's blades whirled behind us. It was even closer than before.

Thalia closed her eyes and prayed hard. "Hey, Dad. A lightning bolt would be nice about now. Please?"

"Thalia," I said softly. "You know it's against the law to help."

I looked out the window. The sky stayed grey and snowy. No sign of a helpful thunderstorm.

"There!" Bianca exclaimed. "That parking lot!"  
"We'll be trapped," Zoe said.

"Trust me," Bianca said. "I know this place!"

Zoe shot across two lanes of traffic and turned into a parking lot of a mall on the south bank of the Potomac. We ditched the van and followed Bianca down some steps.

"Subway entrance," Bianca said. "Let's go south. Alexandria."

"Anything," Thalia agreed.

We bought tickets and got through the gateway, glancing behind us in case we were being followed. A few minutes later we were safely aboard a southbound train, riding away from D.C. As our train came above ground, we could see the helicopter circling the parking lot, but it didn't come after us.

Grover let out a sigh. "Nice job, Bianca, thinking of the subway."

Bianca looked pleased. "Yeah, well. I saw that station when Nico and I came through last summer. I remember being really surprised to see it, because it wasn't here when we used to live in D.C."

Grover frowned. "New? But that station looked really old."

"I guess," Bianca said. "But trust me, when we lived here as little kids, there was no subway."

Thalia sat forward. "Wait a minute. No subway at all?"

Bianca nodded.

Now, I knew nothing about D.C., but I didn't see how their whole subway system could be less than twelve years old. I guess everyone else was thinking the same thing, because they looked pretty confused.

"Bianca," Zoe said. "How long ago…" Her voice faltered. The sound of the helicopter was getting louder again.

"We need to change trains," I said. "Next station."

Over the next half hour, all we thought about was getting away safely. We changed trains twice. I had no idea where we were going, but after a while we lost the helicopter.

Unfortunately, when we finally got off the train we found ourselves at the end of the line, in an industrial area with nothing but warehouses and railway tracks. And snow. Lots of snow. It seemed much colder here. I was glad for my new lion's fur coat.

We wandered through the railway yard, thinking there might be another passenger train somewhere, but there were just rows and rows of freight cars, most of which were covered in snow, like they hadn't moved in years.

A homeless guy was standing at a trash-can fire. We must've looked pretty pathetic, because he gave us a toothless grin and said, "Y'all need to get warmed up? Come on over!"

We huddle around his fire, Thalia's teeth were chattering. She said, "Well this is g-g-g-great."

"My hooves are frozen," Grover complained.

"_Feet_," I corrected, for the sanity of the homeless guy.

"Maybe we should contact camp," Bianca said. "Chiron-"

"No," Zoe said. "They cannot help us anymore. We must finish this quest ourselves."

I gazed wretchedly around the rail yard. Somewhere, far to the west, Artemis was in chains. Annabeth was almost dead. A doomsday monster was on the loose. And we were stuck on the outskirts of D.C., sharing a fire with a homeless dude.

"You know," the homeless man said, "you're never completely without friends." His face was sooty and his beard messy, but his expression seemed warm. "You kids need a train going west?"

"Yes, sir," I said. "You know of any?"

He pointed one greasy hand.

Suddenly, I noticed a freight train, gleaming and free of snow. It was one of those automobile-carrier trains, with steel mesh curtains and a triple-deck of cars inside. The side of the freight train said SUN WEST LINE.

That's... convenient," Thalia said. "Thanks, uh..."

She turned to the homeless guy, but he was gone. The trash can in front of us was cold and empty, as if he'd taken the flames with him.

An hour later, we were rumbling west. There was no problem about who would drive now, because we all got our own luxury car. Zoe and Bianca were crashed out in a Lexus on the top deck. Grover was playing race car driver behind the wheel of a Lamborghini. ANd Thalia had hot-wired the radio in a black Mercedes SLK so she could pick up all of the alternative-rock stations from D.C.

"Join you?" I asked her.

She nodded, so I climbed into the shotgun seat.

The radio was playing White Stripes. I only knew the song because my mom liked it. My thoughts shifted to my mom. It made me so sad because Christmas was only a couple days away and the way that this quest is going, we wouldn't be home for Christmas. I might not live that long.

Thalia eyed me. I stared right back at her. Electric-blue eyes bore into sea-green eyes. We stayed like that for ten seconds before Thalia broke the 'staring contest.'

"I win," I smirked.

Thalia just shifted and stayed quiet. The triumphant smirk on my face disappeared. I sat there and leant back in my seat. After a minute or two, Thalia finally broke the silence,

"Nice coat," she told me.

I pulled the golden-brown duster around me, thankful for the warmth. "Yeah, but its not really my style."

We chuckled.

"And," I continued, "the Nemean Lion wasn't the monster we're looking for."

"Not even close. We've got a long way to go."

"Whatever this _bane of Olympus_is, the General said it would come for you. Kronos wants to isolate you from the group so the monster will appear and face you one-on-one."

Her face scrunched up in concentration. "Why would they want me to battle the bane of Olympus. Wouldn't they just want to have it destroy Olympus?"

"Huh. I never thought of that," I responded.

"Anyway, the thought of being used as bait is totally awesome," Thalia said sarcastically.

I chuckled a little. Then I stopped. "No idea what the monster might be?"

She shook her head dolefully. "But you know where we're going, don't you? San Francisco. That's where Artemis was heading."

"San Francisco," I muttered.

"Yeah. I hate that place."

I stared at her. "Why?" I asked. "What's so bad about San Francisco?"

"The Mist is really thick there because the Mountain of Despair is so near. Titan magic, rather what's left of it, still lingers. Monsters are attracted to that area like you wouldn't believe."

"What's the Mountain of Despair?" I asked.

Thalia raised an eyebrow before smiling. "You really don't know?" Then, her expression darkened. "Ask stupid Zoe. She's the expert."

She glared out the windshield. _Why on earth would Zoe be an expert on the Mountain of Despair? I thought the Hunters moved around a lot?_ I felt like asking Thalia these questions, but I also hated feeling like Thalia knew more than I did. With Annabeth it was okay because she's a daughter of the _wisdom_goddess. You can't expect anything less than that. However, with Thalia... it just felt lame that I knew less than her.

The afternoon sun shone through the steel-mesh side of the freight car, casting a shadow across Thalia's face. I peeked out of the window of the car and adjusted my position so that the sun wouldn't shine into my eyes.

I turned back to Thalia. I scanned her features and clothes. Unlike Zoe, who was formal and princess-like, Thalia had unkempt clothes and had a rebel-like attitude. I reflected on what Chiron told me yesterday: _You and Thalia are much alike._I was quite similar to Thalia.

Then I realized something. There was something there that was similar between Thalia and Zoe. They were both tough and leaders. Right now, sitting in the shadows with a gloomy expression, Thalia looked a lot like one of the Hunters.

More realization hit me like a freight train running over my brain that was tied to the rails. "That's why you don't get along with Zoe."

Thalia turned toward me and frowned. "What?"

"The Hunters tried to recruit you," I guessed.

Thalia's eyes started to shine. Electricity seemed to crackle in them. I thought she was going to zap me out of the Mercedes, but she just sighed. "I almost joined them," she admitted. "Luke, Annabeth, and I ran into them once, and Zoe tried to convince me. She almost did, but..."

"But what?"

Her fingers gripped the wheel tightly. "I would've had to leave Luke."

"Oh."

"Zoe and I got into a fight. She told me I was being stupid. She said I'd regret my choice. She said Luke would let me down someday."

I snorted and watched the sun through the metal curtain. We seemed to be traveling faster each second- faster than a normal train should have.

"That's harsh," I said. "Hard to admit Zoe was right."

Thalia glared at me. "She _wasn't_ right! Luke_ never_let me down. Never."

I got a little angry. I even had the nerve to laugh in front of a girl who could easily kill me at this moment. "You sound so much like Annabeth."

Thalia looked puzzled for a second. "What?"

"You both like Luke," I said. I opened the car door and stepped out. "But Zoe is right. Luke let you down."

"No he _didn't_!"

"Well then why don't you join Kronos' side then. Then you could live happily ever after with Luke. Oh, wait that's right. You'd have to fight Annabeth for him every single day as Kronos destroys humanity!" I said, my voice rising with every word I spoke.

She looked shocked. I snarled, "Go to Kronos' side if it means so much to you."

She shot back, "Annabeth wanted to join the Hunters, too. Maybe you should think about why."

I slammed the door shut and stalked off to Grover's Lamborghini.

_I don't care what they think. They can go to that traitor for all I care_, I thought.

But the rational part of my brain fought back, _You still care for them. You don't wish they would go to Luke._

I looked to the back seat of the Lamborghini. Grover was fast asleep. He'd finally given up trying to impress Zoe and Bianca with his pipe music after he played "Poison Ivy" and caused the very stuff to sprout from their Lexus' air conditioner.

As I watched the sun go down, I thought of Kronos. I was afraid to go to sleep; to see Kronos' horrible goading. I was worried that I might see Artemis being punished.

"Oh, don't be afraid of dreams," a voice said right next to me.

I looked over. Somehow, I wasn't surprised to find the homeless dude from the rail yard sitting in the shotgun seat. His jeans were so worn out they were almost white. His coat was ripped, with stuffing coming out. He looked kind of like a teddy bear that had been run over by a truck.

"If it weren't for dreams," he said, "I wouldn't know half the things I know about the future. They're better than Olympus tabloids." He cleared his throat, then held up his hands dramatically:

_"Dreams like a podcast,_  
_Downloading truth in my ears._  
_They tell me cool stuff"_

The homeless man grinned. That grin, I recognized. The horrible poetry, I also recognized.

"Apollo?" I guessed.

He put his finger to his lips. "I'm incognito. Call me Fred."

"A god name Fred?"

"Eh, well... Zeus insists on certain rules. Hands off, when there's a human quest. Even when something really major is wrong. But nobody messes with my baby sister. _Nobody_."

I internally chuckled. There's no way that Annabeth would mess with a goddess as powerful as Artemis.

"Can you help us, then?"

"Shhh. I already have. Haven't you been looking outside?"

I remembered what I saw earlier. The shapes and shadows outside moving faster than it should've been. "How fast are we moving?"

Apollo chuckled. "Fast enough. Unfortunately, we're running out of time. It's almost sunset. But I imagine we'll get you across a good chunk of America, at least."

"But where is Artemis?"

His face darkened. "I know a lot, and I see a lot. But even I don't know that. She's... clouded from me. I don't like it. The last place I saw her was San Fran, but..."

"What about Annabeth?" I asked.

He frowned. "Oh, you mean that girl that disappeared. Hmmm. I don't know."

I sighed. It was worth a shot, but I knew gods never took mortals seriously. Even their own children. We live such short lives, compared to the gods.

"What about the monster Artemis was hunting?" I asked. "Do you know what it is?"

"No," Apollo said. "But there is one who might. If you haven't yet found the monster when you reach San Francisco, seek out Nereus, the Old Man of the Sea. He has a long memory and sharp eye. He has the gift of knowledge sometimes kept obscure from my Oracle."

"But it's _your_Oracle," I protested. "Can't you tell us what the prophecy means?"

Apollo sighed. "You might as well ask an artist to explain his art, or ask a poet to explain his poem. It defeats the purpose. The meaning is only clear through the search."

"In other words, you don't know."

Apollo checked his watch. "Ah, look at the time! I have to run. I doubt I can risk helping you again, Percy, but remember what I said! Get some sleep! And when you return, I expect a good haiku about your journey!"

I wanted to protest that I wasn't tired and I'd never made up a haiku in my life, but Apollo snapped his fingers, and the next thing I knew I was closing my eyes.

In my dream, I was somebody else. I was wearing an old-fashioned Greek tunic, which was a little too breezy downstairs, and laced leather sandals. The Nemean Lion's skin was wrapped around my back like a cape, and I was running somewhere, being pulled along by a girl who was tightly gripping my hand.

"Hurry!" she said. It was too dark to see her face clearly, but I could hear the fear in her voice. "He will find us!"

It was night time. A million stars blazed above. We were running through tall grass, and the scent of a thousand different flowers made the air intoxicating. It was a beautiful garden, and yet the girl was leading me through it, as if we were about to die.

"I'm not afraid," I tried to tell her.

"You should be!" she said, pulling me along. She had long dark hair braided down her back. Her silk robes glowed faintly in the starlight. She looked vaguely familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

We raced up the side of the hill. She pulled me behind a thorn bush and we collapsed, both breathing heavily. I didn't know why the girl was scared. The garden seemed so peaceful. And I felt strong. Stronger than I'd ever felt before.

"There is no need to run," I told her. My voice sounded deeper, much more confident. "I have bested a thousand monsters with my bare hands."

In my consciousness, not my what my character was saying, I thought,_ That should sound familiar._

"Not this one," the girl said. "Ladon is too strong. You must go around, up the mountain to my father. It is the only way."

_Ladon... mountain... my father... girl looks familiar..._

The hurt in her voice surprised me. She was really concerned, almost like she cared about me.

"I don't trust your father," I said.

"You should not," the girl agreed. "You will have to trick him. But you cannot take the prize directly. You will die."

I chuckled. "Then why don't you help me, pretty one?"

"I… I am afraid. Ladon will stop me. My sisters, if they found out… they would disown me."

"Then there's nothing for it." I stood up, rubbing my hands together.

"Wait.'" the girl said.

She seemed to be agonizing over a decision. Then, her fingers trembling, she reached up and plucked a long white brooch from her hair. "If you must fight, take this. My mother, Pleione, gave it to me. She was a daughter of the ocean, and the ocean's power is within it. My immortal power."

The girl breathed on the pin and it glowed faintly. It gleamed in the starlight like polished abalone.

"Take it," she told me. "And make of it a weapon."

I laughed. "A hairpin? How will this slay Ladon, pretty one?"

"It may not," she admitted. "But it is all I can offer, if you insist on being stubborn."

The girl's voice softened my heart. I reached down and took the hairpin, and as I did, it grew longer and heavier in my hand, until I held a familiar bronze sword.

"Well balanced," I said. "Though I usually prefer to use my bare hands. What shall I name this blade?"

"Anaklusmos," the girl said sadly. "The current that takes one by surprise. And before you know it, you have been swept out to sea."

_My_consciousness gasped.

Before I could thank her, there was a trampling sound in the grass, a hiss like air escaping a tire, and the girl said, "Too late! He is here!"

I sat bolt upright in the Lamborghini's drivers seat. Thalia was shaking my arm.

"Percy," she said. "It's morning. The train's stopped. Come on!"

_Looks like Thalia forgave me_, I thought. _I might as well, too._

I grabbed Thalia's hand and hoisted myself out of the car. When I got out, I closed the door and tried going over to Grover. I was yanked back. Thalia and I realized we were still holding hands and blushed. I gently let go of her hand and walked away to Grover.

I tried to shake off my drowsiness. Zoe and Bianca had already rolled up the metal curtains. Outside were snowy mountains dotted with pine trees, the sun rising red between two peaks.

Grover stood near the girls nervously, but didn't make any move.

I fished my pen out of my pocket and stared at it. _Anaklusmos_, the Ancient Greek name for Riptide. A different form, but I was sure it was the same blade I'd seen in my dream.

And I was sure of something else, too. The girl I had seen was Zoe Nightshade.

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**


	12. Thalia and Percy Go Snowboarding

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**I will also be making two other stories alongside this one.**

**One is a Pertemis FanFic and one is going to be about Percy/Zoe**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST.**

**The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**Just in case you were wondering, the length of an update is according to the length of the chapters in the real book.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

Chapter 12: Thalia and Percy Go Snowboarding

**Thalia's POV**

After getting out of that awkward moment with Percy, we exited the freight train. We had arrived on the outskirts of a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The sign said: WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO. The air was cold and thin, like Denver, but even colder and thinner.

I could see Percy shivering, even in his lion-skin coat.

"So..." I started off uneasily. I glanced ahead of us to Bianca and Zoe who were leading the way.

"Well... I met Apollo last night," Percy said.

Grover and I turned to him and asked- no forced -him to tell the story. After telling us about Apollo worrying about Artemis and about Nereus in San Francisco, his face seemed to show even more depression.

Grover looked uneasy. "That's good, I guess. But we've got to get there first."

Percy's face dropped even further. From my own dream last night, I saw Artemis in chains, Annabeth being kept alive... for now, and the worst of all, Tartarus. Kronos had tried persuading me to sacrifice something. I forget what it was, but it sounded like it was important for the Titans to rise. I couldn't... I wouldn't let them get me. I'd rather die.

My thoughts drifted off to Luke. I knew what Percy said last night was true. I knew Annabeth harbored feelings for him. The only problem was that I do too. _Or did..._a voice in my head said.

We stopped in the middle of town. You could pretty much see everything from there: a school, a bunch of tourist stores and cafes, some ski cabins, and a grocery store.

"Great," I said. "No bus station. No taxis. No car rental. No way out."

"There's a coffee shop!" exclaimed Grover.

"Yes," Zoe agreed. "Coffee is good."

"And pastries," Grover said dreamily. "And wax paper."

I sighed. "Fine. How about you two go get us some food. Percy, Bianca and I will check in the grocery store. Maybe they can give us directions."

We agreed to meet back in front of the grocery store in fifteen minutes. Bianca looked a little uncomfortable coming with us, but she did.

Inside the store, we found out a few valuable things about Cloudcroft: there wasn't enough snow for skiing, the grocery store sold rubber rats for a dollar each, and there was no easy way in or out of town unless you had your own car.

"You could call for a taxi from Alamogordo," the clerk said doubtfully. "That's down at the bottom of the mountains, but it would take at least an hour to get here. Cost several hundred dollars."

Percy bought a rubber rat. Then we headed back outside and stood on the porch.

We just stood there awkwardly. I mean, Zoe probably implemented all of the bad stuff about me into Bianca's brain and Percy... well, being we him is just awkward. Especially because every time we talk, it either ends up with us trying to kill each other or almost kissing.

All three of us started shifting our feet uncomfortably. Percy was glancing between me, Bianca and the ground. Bianca was glancing at the rubber rat and I was just staring at both of them.

Percy opened his mouth, but closed it without a peep. I could tell that it was directed at Bianca, but he didn't say anything because she was a Hunter and everything.

"Nice rat," Bianca said at last.

Percy set it on the porch railing. I don't know why, but he moved it away from the store.

"So... how do you like being a Hunter so far?" Percy asked.

Bianca pursed her lips. "You're not still mad at me for joining, are you?"

Percy told Grover and I that he tried preventing Bianca from joining the Hunt, but failed, so I knew what she was talking about.

"Nah. Long as, you know... you're happy."

I smiled a weak smile. There's Percy for you. Looking on the bright side even when he's this nervous.

"I'm not sure 'happy' is the right word, with Lady Artemis gone. But being a Hunter is definitely cool. I feel calmer somehow. Everything seems to have slowed down around me. I guess that's the immortality."

Percy stared at Bianca. I decided to take a look as well. What surprised me was how different she looked compared to the girl under that green cap. She kept her hair tied back, and she looked Percy right in the eyes when she spoke. She had more confidence than she had before. Percy shivered. I knew what he was thinking. Years later, Bianca could be having a conversation with another half-blood and she would still look twelve years old.

That's the same way I felt about Zoe. Although I met her about six years ago, she still looked fourteen-ish.

"Nico didn't understand my decision," Bianca murmured. "You two understand, right?" She looked at us like she wanted assurance it was okay.

I nodded and Percy said, "He'll be all right. Camp Half-Blood takes in a lot of young kids. They did that for Annabeth."

Bianca nodded. "I hope we find her. Annabeth, I mean. She's lucky to have friends like you guys."

I smiled faintly. Percy looked down and said, "Lot of good it did her."

"Don't blame yourself Percy," Bianca told him. "You risked your life to save my brother and me. I mean, that was seriously brave. If I hadn't met you, I wouldn't have felt okay about leaving Nico at the camp. I figured if there were people like you there, Nico would be fine. You're a good guy. Better than most of the ones Zoe describes." She shivered. "But, Zoe is starting to think different of you. Maybe you could be the first guy that Zoe can accept in thousands of years."

I snickered. Percy chuckled. Simultaneously we said, "I doubt that's going to happen."

"It's possible," Bianca replied.

Percy countered playfully, "Even though I knocked you down in capture the flag?"

She laughed. "Okay. Except for that, you're a good guy."

A couple hundred yards away, Grover and Zoe came out of the coffee shop loaded down with pastry bags and drinks. Percy had a disappointed look on his face. _Guess he likes talking to Bianca_, I thought.

"So, what's the story with you and Nico?" Percy asked Bianca, knocking me out of my thoughts. "Where did you go to school before Westover?"

She frowned. "I think it was a boarding school in D.C. It seems like so long ago."

"You never lived with your parents? I mean, your mortal parent?"

"We were told our parents were dead. There was a bank trust for us. A lot of money, I think. A lawyer would come by once in a while to check on us. Then Nico and I had to leave that school."

There was something suspicious about the story, but I needed more information to put my finger on it. _Oh gods! I'm starting to sound like Annabeth! Zeus help me._

"Why?" Percy asked.

Bianca knit her eyebrows. "We had to go somewhere. I remember it was important. We traveled a long way. And we stayed in this hotel for a few weeks-"

"Hotel?" I asked.

She nodded, "And after that..." her face scrunched up, "I don't know. One day a different lawyer came to get us out. He said it was time for us to leave. He drove us back east, through D.C. Then up into Maine. And we started going to Westover."

It was a strange and peculiar story. Although Bianca and Nico were half-bloods, not remembering where you were for a good chunk of your life sounded really suspicious...

"So you've been raising Nico pretty much all your life?" Percy asked. "Just the two of you?"

She nodded. "That's why I wanted to join the Hunters so bad. I mean, I know it's selfish, but I wanted my own life and friends. I love Nico- don't get me wrong -I just needed to find out what it would be like not to be a big sister twenty-four hours a day. Don't you think so Thalia?"

My face darkened. _Jason._ My long lost brother. My mom had said he died, but I never believed her. I could feel it. My brother is still alive. I know it... somehow.

"Uh," Percy covered up. "She does have a brother and, uh, he went... missing and that's why she's...yeah..."

I looked surprised at Percy. He actually guessed it correctly. Maybe he isn't as dumb as Annabeth says. Then again, she _is _a daughter of Athena.

"Zoe seems to trust you," Percy said. "What were you guys talking about, anyway- something dangerous about the quest?"

"When?"

I was curious too. When did Percy hear about this?

"Yesterday morning on the pavilion," he said. "Something about the General."

Bianca's face darkened. "How did you... The invisibility hat. Were you eavesdropping?"

I couldn't help but snicker at Percy's expression.

"No! I mean, not really. I just-"

He was saved from trying to explain when Zoe and Grover arrived with the drinks and pastries. Hot chocolate for Bianca, Percy and me. Coffee for them. Percy got a blueberry muffin and he smiled in delight as Bianca glared at him. I snatched the muffin out of his hands and ripped a piece that Percy didn't lick to give to Bianca.

I ate the part that Percy did lick. I didn't believe in 'cooties' so I had no problem with it. When I ate it, my brain almost melted. It was really good. Then, I tasted the salt. _Percy's lips._

I kind of felt eager to see what his lips tasted like. Salty, like the ocean, but nice as well... like French fries.

Zoe interrupted my thoughts. "We should do the tracking spell. Grover, do you have any acorns left?"

"Umm," Grover mumbled. He was chewing on a bran muffin, wrapper and all. "I think so. I just need to-"

He stopped suddenly.

Out of nowhere, a warm breeze rushed past, like a gust of nature had gone by. Fresh air seasoned with wildflowers and sunshine. _Pan_, I thought. _God of the Wild._

Zoe gasped. "Grover, thy cup."

Grover dropped his coffee cup, which was decorated with pictures of birds. Suddenly the birds peeled off the cup and flew away, a flock of tiny doves. My rubber rat squeaked. It scampered off the railing and into the trees. Real fur, real whiskers.

As Grover collapsed, something caught my eye behind me. The others gathered around him and tried to wake him up.

Then, I saw them. The skeleton warriors were here.

Grover groaned.

"Hey!" I said, causing heads to turn my way. "I just saw them."

"Who?"

"The skeleton warriors." I said, as I opened my mace canister. "We have to get out of here."

We made it to the edge of town before the first two skeleton warriors appeared. They stepped from the trees on either side of the road. Instead of grey camouflage, they were now wearing blue New Mexico State Police uniforms, but they had to same transparent grey skin and yellow eyes.

They drew their handguns and pointed them at Percy.

I tapped my bracelet and Aegis spiraled to life on my arm. The warriors didn't flinch. Their glowing yellow eyes bored into Percy.

Percy uncapped Riptide. Zoe and Bianca drew their bows, but Bianca was having trouble because Grover kept swooning and leaning against her.

"Back up," I said.

We started to, but then I heard a rustling of branches. We glanced behind us and there stood two more skeletons, blocking off the road behind us. We were surrounded.

I wondered where the other skeletons were. I'd seen a dozen at the Smithsonian. Then one of the warriors raised a cell phone to his mouth and spoke into it.

Except he wasn't speaking. He made a clattering, clicking sound, like dry teeth on bone. Suddenly I understood what was going on. The skeletons had split up to look for us. These skeletons were now calling their brethren. Soon we'd have a full party on our hands.

"It's near," Grover moaned.

"It's here," Percy said.

"No," Grover said. "The gift. The gift from the Wild."

A gift from Pan? Then we also had another problem. We couldn't all fight without laying Grover in the grass.

"We'll have to go one-on-one," I said. "Four of them. Four of us. Maybe they'll ignore Grover that way."

"Agreed," said Zoe.

"The Wild!" Grover moaned.

Another warm wind blew through the canyon, rustling the trees, but we all kept our eyes on the skeletons.

Percy took a deep breath and charged.

The first skeleton fired. I was going to scream "NO!" but I heard a _clink_ of metal. I realized that somehow, Percy had deflected the bullet, as if he could feel its path. Percy just kept charging.

The skeleton drew a baton and Percy sliced off the skeleton's arms at the elbows. Then he swung Riptide through the skeleton's waist and cut it in half.

I decided to help Percy and charged at the second skeleton. While I rushed, the bones of the first skeleton began to move, re-assembling themselves. The second skeleton clattered his teeth at Percy and tried to fire, but Percy knocked his gun into the snow.

"I got the second one," I yelled.

"Together!" he called back. "Until the first one re-assembles completely."

Then, the two skeleton's Zoe and Bianca were to take shot a Percy. He clattered into a heap.

"Percy!" I yelled.

He had landed face down in the street. I knew that the Nemean Lion's coat was bulletproof so I wasn't completely worried about Percy dying, but I was mad at the skeletons. I rushed the second skeleton.

As I fought the second skeleton, Zoe and Bianca started firing arrows at their respective skeletons. Grover stood there and held his hands out to the trees, looking like he wanted to hug them.

There was a crashing sound in the forest to our left, like a bulldozer. Maybe the skeletons' reinforcements were arriving. I spun from a baton attack and slashed my spear at the skeleton. It went right through the skeleton.

There was no way to stop them. Zoe and Bianca fired their arrows point-blank, but the arrows just whistled straight through their empty skulls. One lunged at Bianca, but she yanked her hunting knife out and stabbed the warrior in the chest. The whole skeleton erupted into flames, leaving a little pile of ashes and a police badge. The skeleton didn't reform.

"How did you do that?" Zoe asked.

"I don't know," Bianca said nervously. "Lucky stab?"

"Well, do it again!"

Bianca tried, but the remaining three skeletons were wary of her now. They pressed us back, keeping us at baton's length.

"Plan?" Percy asked as we retreated.

No one answered. The trees behind the skeletons were shivering. Branches were cracking.

"A gift," Grover murmured.

With a loud squeal, a giant boar crashed through the trees and emerged from the forest. It was a wild boar, thirty feet high, with a snotty pink snout and tusks the size of canoes. Its back bristled with brown hair, and its eyes were wild and angry.

"_REEEEEEEEET_!" it squealed, and raked the three skeletons aside with its tusks. The force was so great, they went flying over the trees and into the side of the mountain, where they smashed to pieces, thigh bones and arm bones twirling everywhere.

Then the pig turned on us.

I raised my spear, but Grover yelled, "Don't kill it!"

The boar grunted and pawed the ground, ready to charge.

"That's the Erymanthian Boar," Zoe said, trying to stay calm. "I don't think we _can_ kill it."

"It's a gift," Grover insisted. "A blessing from the Wild!"

The boar said "_REEEEEEET_!" and swung its tusk. Zoe and Bianca dived out of the way. Percy had to push Grover so he wouldn't get launched into the mountain via the boar's tusks.

"Yeah, I feel blessed," Percy said. "Scatter!"

We ran in different directions, and for a moment the boar was confused.

"It wants to kill us!" I said.

"Of course," Grover called. "It's wild!"

"So how is that a blessing?" Bianca asked.

The boar seemed offended by that and charged her. She was faster. _It comes with being a Hunter_, Zoe had told me years ago.

Bianca rolled out of the way of its hooves and came up behind the beast. The beast lashed out with its tusks a little too late and destroyed the WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT sign.

Erymanthian Boar. It plowed down several Greek cities before Hercules managed to subdue it. Hopefully we could subdue it before it destroyed Cloudcroft... and the entirety of New Mexico.

"Keep moving!" Zoe yelled. She and Bianca ran in opposite directions. Grover danced around the boar, playing his pipes while the boar snorted and tried to gouge him. Unfortunately, Percy and I got the worst luck. When the boar turned on us, I raised Aegis in defense, but it was a mistake. The boar squealed in terror, but instead of turning toward Zoe or Bianca like I intended, it charged us.

We only managed to keep ahead of it because we ran uphill, and we could dodge in and out of trees while the boar had to plow through them.

On the other side of the hill, Percy grabbed my hand and pointed to an old stretch of train tracks, half buried in the snow. "This way."

We ran along the rails while the boar roared behind us, slipping and sliding as it tried to navigate the steep hillside. Its hooves were not made for this, thank the gods.

Then, I saw a covered tunnel in front of us. Past that, there was an old trestle bridge that spanned a gorge.

"Follow me!"

I slowed down. My fear of heights kicked in. _There's no way I'm going down that!_ However, Percy just pulled me along and I reluctantly followed. Behind us, a ten-ton pig was knocking down pine trees and crushing boulders under its hooves as it chased us.

Percy and I ran into the tunnel and came out on the other side.

When I saw how far the drop was, I turned as white as ice. "No!" I screamed.

We were at the edge of the bridge. Below, the mountain dropped away into a snow-filled gorge about seventy feet below.

The boar was right behind us, but I was too scared to think straight.

"Come on!" Percy said. "It'll hold our weight, probably."

"I can't!" I yelled. Fear radiated off of me. I couldn't... I just couldn't.

I could hear the boar smash into the covered tunnel, tearing through at full speed.

"Now!" Percy yelled at me.

I looked down and swallowed. I felt like I was going to puke. I was about to tell Percy that I couldn't when he resorted to Plan B. He tackled me. I let out a brief scream and clung onto him with my right arm. My left arm was still attached to Aegis which we were using as a snowboard. Percy held me close and I could smell his ocean aura. It calmed me down. I gripped onto him tighter. I looked up to the boar. It was less fortunate; it couldn't turn that fast, so all ten tons of the monster charged out onto the tiny little bridge, which snapped under its weight. The boar free-fell into the gorge with a mighty squeal and landed in a snowdrift with a huge showering of snow.

Percy and I skidded to a stop. I tapped Aegis and it re-spiraled back into my charm bracelet. My right arm was still stuck to Percy, with my adrenaline pumping. We were both breathing hard. Percy was cut up and bleeding and I had pine needles in my hair. Next to us, the wild boar was squealing and struggling, but it was stuck fast in the snow. _It won't be going anywhere soon... unless we use it_, I thought.

Percy looked at me with realization in his eyes. "You're afraid of heights."

Now that we were safely down the mountain, I could think straight again. I pushed him away from me. "Don't be stupid."

"That explains why you freaked out on Apollo's bus. Why you didn't want to talk about it."

I took a deep breath. Then, I brushed the pine needles out of my hair. "If you tell anyone, I swear-"

"No, no," Percy said. "That's cool. It's just... the daughter of Zeus, the Lord of the Sky, afraid of heights?"

I stepped back toward him and punched him in the gut. He winced, but just smiled. "I really can't believe that a daughter of _Zeus_ would be afraid of-"

I cut him off by tackling him.

We went sprawling in the snow. I ended up on top of him. I punched his shoulder. "Don't make fun of me."

"Okay, _Thals_," he smiled.

I stared into his eyes and lost focus. My fists dropped to Percy's shoulders and opened up. Percy lost his smirk and stared at _my_ eyes. I started to droop down when Grover called, "Hellooooooo?"

I got off of Percy, blushing. I called, "Down here!"

A few minutes later, Zoe, Bianca, and Grover joined us. We stood watching the wild boar struggle in the snow.

"A blessing of the Wild," Grover said, though he now looked agitated.

"I agree," Zoe said. "We must use it."

"Hold up," I said irritably. "Explain to me why you're so sure this pig is a blessing."

Grover looked over, distracted. "It's our ride west. Do you have any idea how fast this boar can travel?"

"Fun," Percy said. "Like... pig cowboys."

Grover nodded. "We need to get aboard. I wish... I wish I had more time to look around. But it's gone now."

"What's gone?" Percy asked.

Grover ignored him and walked over to the boar. He jumped onto its back. Already the boar was starting to make some headway through the drift. Once it broke free, there'd be no stopping it. Grover took out his pipes. He started playing a snappy tune and tossed an apple in front of the boar. The apple floated and spun right above the boar's nose, and the boar went nuts, straining to get it.

"Automatic steering," I muttered. "Great."

I trudged over and jumped on behind Grover. Grover whispered back to me, "I saw the human indents into the ground. Were you two making out?"

I blushed furiously. "What? You think I would make out with Percy?"

Grover smiled. "It's kind of obvious-"

Percy cut him off. "Wait a second. Do you two know what Grover is talking about- this wild blessing?"

Grover was about to say something along the lines of: I can hear you. And then he would explain, but Zoe answered for him, as the question was directed at her and Bianca,

"Of course," Zoe said. "Did you not feel it in the wind? It was so strong... I never thought I would sense that presence again."

"What presence?"

Sometimes Percy can be so slow. A higher pitched voice said in my head, _And that's what you like about him._

_Aphrodite, get out of my head_, I thought.

_Just so you remember, I can only improve on what's there. Don't go thinking I made you like him..._

I turned my attention back to Zoe. "The Lord of the Wild, of course. Just for a moment, in the arrival of the boar, I felt the presence of Pan."

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**


	13. One is Lost in the Land Without Rain

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**I will also be making two other stories alongside this one.**

**One is a Pertemis FanFic and one is going to be about Percy/Zoe**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST.**

**The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**Just in case you were wondering, the length of an update is according to the length of the chapters in the real book.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

Chapter 13: One is Lost in the Land Without Rain

**Thalia's POV**

We rode the boar until sunset, which was more than my rear end could last. Riding that stupid boar was like sitting on the armrest of a chair in the back of a truck that drove over rocks. There was an awkward part about the ride though. Percy was sitting right behind me.

I could sense his presence and breath down my neck. I heard him mutter curses every once in awhile. Also, what Grover had said to me just before our ride started kept lingering in the back of my head.

_Was it obvious that I liked Percy? Did people see that he liked me back? If they did... how clueless am I?_

We traveled a few hundred miles in the past day. The landscape had drastically changed from the mountainous ranges to miles of flat, dry land. The grass and scrub got sparser until we were running across the desert.

As night fell, the boar came to a stop at a creek bed and snorted. It started drinking the muddy water, then ripped a saguaro cactus out of the ground and chewed it, needles and all.

"This is as far as he'll go," Grover said. "We need to get off while he's eating."

Nobody needed convincing. We slipped off the boar's back while he was busy ripping up cacti. Then we waddled away as best we could with our saddle sores.

After its third saguaro and another drink of muddy water, the boar squealed and belched, then whirled around and galloped back toward the east.

"It likes the mountains better," Percy guessed.

"I can't blame it," I said. "Look."

Ahead of us was a sand-covered two-lane road. On the other side of the road, was a cluster of buildings too small to be a town: a boarded-up house, a taco shop that looked like it hadn't been open since before Zoe was born, and a white stucco post office with a sign that said GILA CLAW, ARIZONA.

"Must be a ghost town," I muttered.

Further west of the ghost town was a range of hills that weren't made of dirt or sand. The desert was too flat to have hills of dirt or sand. The hills were made of old cars, appliances, and other scrap metal. A junkyard that seemed to go on forever.

"Whoa," Percy said.

"Something tells me we're not going to find a car rental here," I said. I looked at Grover. "I don't suppose you got another wild boar up your sleeve?"

Grover sniffed the wind nervously. He snatched his acorns out from his bag and threw them into the sand. Then he played his pipes. They rearranged themselves in a pattern that didn't make any sense to me, as I didn't see how it looked in Maryland, but Grover looked concerned.

"That's us," he said. "Those five nuts right there."

"Which one is me?" Percy asked.

"That little deformed one," Zoe suggested. I snickered.

"Oh, shut up," Percy said.

"That cluster right there," Grover said, pointing to the left, "that's trouble."

"A monster?" I asked.

Grover looked restless. "I don't smell anything, which is a little peculiar. But the acorns don't lie. Our next challenge... is somewhere out there."

He pointed straight at the junkyard. With the sunlight almost gone now, I didn't think it would be safe to head into there now.

"All right," I said. "Let's go tomorrow, when its light."

Everyone murmured their assent.

Zoe and Bianca produced five sleeping bags and foam mattresses out of their backpacks. I wish I had an enchanted backpack to keep all of my stuff in.

_You could have had one if you joined the Hunters_, a tiny part of my brain said.

_Then I would've had to leave Luke_, I thought back to it.

_But there's nothing to keep you from joining now, is there? Besides, Luke did betray you,_it replied back.

Unlike what I had told Percy earlier, I did feel that Luke betrayed me. The fact that Percy assumed I was head-over-heels for him enough to join the Titans hurt.

Then, the disgusting part of my brain, also known as the 'love' part of my brain replied back, _There's Percy..._

I blinked to get these thoughts out of my head. _Zeus, gods, father, Annabeth, Artemis_, I thought to get the voices out of my head.

Like most deserts are, the night got chilly really fast, so Grover and Percy collected old boards from the ruined house, and I zapped them with an electric shock to start a campfire. Pretty soon we were about as comfy as you can get in a rundown ghost town in the middle of nowhere.

"The stars are out," Zoe said.

I looked up. Sure enough, there were millions of stars shining in the sky. Yet it seemed as though there were less than all those years back when Luke, Annabeth and I would stare at every night.

"Amazing," Bianca said. "I've never actually seen the Milky Way."

"This is nothing," Zoe said. "In the old days, there were more. Whole constellations have disappeared because of human light pollution."

"You talk as though you're not human," Percy said.

Zoe raised an eyebrow. "I am a Hunter. I care what happens to the wild places of the world. Can the same be said for thee?"

"For _you_," I corrected. "Not _thee_."

"But you use _you_for the beginning of a sentence."

"And for the end," I said. "No _thou_. No _thee_. Just _you._"

Zoe threw up her hands in exasperation. "I _hate_this language. It changes too often!"

Grover sighed. He was still looking up at the stars, probably wondering about the light pollution problem. "If only Pan were here, he would set things right."

Zoe nodded sadly.

Percy scratched his head. "Wasn't there this story that a satyr found Pan, but called, _The great god, Pan, is dead._"

I nodded. "But satyrs never believed him to have died. They always searched for him for the past two thousand or so years."

"Maybe it was the coffee," Grover said. "I was drinking coffee, and the wind came. Maybe if I drank more coffee..."

I glanced at Percy and locked eyes. I knew we were thinking the same thing. I don't think coffee had anything to do with finding Pan. I had never seen that kind of 'magic' before. I had never heard or experienced a way in which rubber rats and pictures on coffee cups could come to life with just a wind gusting through the area.

Percy asked, "Grover, do you really think that was Pan? I mean, I know you _want_it to be."

"He sent us help," Grover insisted. "I don't know how or why, but it was his presence. After this quest is done, I'm going back to New Mexico and drinking a lot of coffee. It's the best lead we've gotten in two thousand years. I was _so close_."

Percy stayed silent. I guessed that he didn't want to crush Grover's hopes.

"What I want to know," I said, turning my head to Bianca, "is how you destroyed one of the zombies. There are a lot more out there somewhere. We need to figure out how to fight them."

Bianca shook her head. "I don't know. I just stabbed it and it went up in flames."

"Flames..." Percy muttered. "Maybe there's something special about your knife."

"It is the same as mine," Zoe said. "Celestial bronze, yes. But mind did not affect the warriors that way."

"Maybe you have to hit the skeleton in a certain spot," Percy said.

Bianca looked a little uncomfortable with everybody paying attention to her. It reminded me of the girl under the floppy, green cap. Although she has changed, maybe her most inner habits have not.

"Never mind," Zoe told her. "We will find the answer. In the meantime, we should plan our next move. When we get through this junkyard, we must continue west. If we can find a road, we can hitchhike to the nearest city. I think that would be Las Vegas."

Bianca exclaimed suddenly, "No! Not there!"

She looked really freaked out, like how I'd been on Apollo's chariot ride.

Zoe frowned. "Why?"

Bianca took a shaky breath. "I... I think we stayed there for a while. Nico and I. When we were traveling. And then, I can't remember..."

Percy took a sharp intake of breath, like he just realized something. His eyes looked wild, like Annabeth's sometimes. But instead of looking like they were racing a hundred miles per hour, they looked like a sea storm and washing waves. The normal sea-green in his eyes temporarily changed to a deep-ocean blue. He met Grover's eyes and it seemed like they shared the same thought.

"Bianca," he said. "That hotel you stayed at. Was it possibly called the Lotus Hotel and Casino?"

Her eyes widened. "How could you know that?"

"Oh, great," Percy said in exasperation.

"Wait," I interrupted. "What is the Lotus Casino?"

Percy took a deep breath and his eyes shifted back to their normal sea-green. "A couple of years ago, Grover, Annabeth and I got trapped there. It's designed so you never want to leave. We stayed for about an hour. When we came out, five days had passed. It makes time speed up."

"No," Bianca said. "No that's not possible."

"You said somebody came and got you out," Percy recalled.

"Yes."

"What did he look like? What did he say?"

"I... I don't remember. Please, I really don't want to talk about this."

Wow. This looked like a detective scene where there was a cute idiot of a detective and a suspect that wasn't a suspect of murder. Then again... where the Hades would you find that?

Zoe looked troubled. "You said that Washington, D.C., had changed when you went back last summer. You didn't remember the subway being there."

"Yes, but-"

"Bianca," Zoe said, "can you tell me the name of the president of the United States right now?"

"Don't be silly," Bianca said. She told us the correct name of the president.

"And who was the president before that?" Zoe asked.

Bianca thought for a while. "Roosevelt."

Grover and I whitened. Zoe swallowed. "Theodore or Franklin?"

"Franklin," Bianca said. "F.D.R."

"Like FDR Drive?" Percy asked like the dimwit he was.

"Bianca," Zoe said slowly. "F.D.R. was not the last president. That was about seventy years ago."

"That's impossible," Bianca said. "I... I'm not that old."

She stared at her hands as if to make sure they weren't wrinkled.

My eyes turned sad. I could sympathize with her, and how it felt to be ripped out of one period of time and put in another. The difference was that she moved ahead seventy years and I moved ahead five years. "It's okay, Bianca. The important thing is you and Nico are safe. You made it out."

"But how?" Percy said. "We were only in there for an hour and we barely escaped. How could you have escaped after being there for so long?"

"I told you." Bianca looked on the verge of tears. "A man came and said it was time to leave. And-"

"But who? Why did he do it?"

Before she could answer, a blazing light shone onto us from down the road. The headlights of a car appeared out of nowhere. A white limousine started driving forward to us. We had to grab our sleeping bags and get out of the way so that the white limousine stopped in front of us.

**Percy's POV**

The back door of the limo opened up right next to me. Before I could step away, the point of a sword touched my throat.

I heard the sound of Zoe and Bianca drawing their bows. I also heard Thalia growl softly. As the owner of the sword got out of the car, I moved back very slowly. I had to, because he was pushing the point under my chin.

He smiled cruelly. "Not so fast now, are you, punk?"

He was a big man with a crew cut, a black leather biker's jacket, black jeans, a white muscle shirt, and combat boots. Wraparound shades hid his eyes, but I knew what was behind those glasses: hollow sockets filled with flames.

"Ares," I growled.

The war god glanced at my friends. "At ease, people."

He snapped his fingers, and their weapons fell to the ground.

"This is a friendly meeting." He dug the point of his blade a little farther under my chin. "Of course I'd _like_to take your head for a trophy, but someone wants to see you. And I never be-head my enemies in front of a lady."

"And the fact that my dad would kill you for that," I snapped.

Ares sneered and poked my neck. "Don't test me kid."

"Yeah. And you're a wimp. Those stories say that with just a cut you'd go home crying to your mom," I growled. I couldn't help myself. Ares just invoked that emotion in me.

Ares looked as if he was going to cut my head off in an instant, but Thalia interrupted, which I was thankful for. "What lady?"

I quickly sent a thanks to Zeus for his daughter.

Ares loosened the sword from my throat and looked her over. "Well, well. I heard you were back."

He lowered his sword and pushed me away.

"Thalia, daughter of Zeus," Ares mused. "You're not hanging out with very good company."

"They're better than you. Besides, what the Hades is your business. Who's in the car?" she asked.

Ares faked a smile. "Oh, I doubt she wants to meet them." He pointed his sword at Zoe, Bianca and Grover. "Especially those two." He pointed at Zoe and Bianca. "And she doesn't have any business with you. Apparently you joined this quest wanting to save Artemis and the mortal girl instead of doing it for Percy and all about... eh. Anyway, why don't you all go get some tacos while you wait? It'll only take Percy a few minutes."

"We will not leave him alone with thee, Lord Ares," Zoe said.

"Besides," Grover managed, "the taco place is closed."

Ares snapped his fingers again. The lights inside the taqueria suddenly blazed to life. The boards flew off the door and the CLOSED sign flipped to OPEN. "You were saying, goat boy?"

"Go on," I told my friends. "I'll handle this."

I tried sounding confident, like Thalia was when she led the capture the flag game. I don't think Ares was fooled by the act.

"You heard the boy," Ares said. He added mockingly, "He's big and strong. He's got things under control."

My friends reluctantly headed over to the taco restaurant. Thalia gave me one last look. I smiled at her and she brightened up. I noticed her dazzling eyes brighten with electricity, but not in a harmful way. For a second, I imagined her without the short spiky hair, but with slightly longer hair that fell just below her shoulders. The hair wasn't too neat though. Still, she looked, dare I say it, beautiful.

Ares regarded me with loathing, then opened the limousine door like a chauffeur.

"Get inside, punk," he said. "And mind your manners. She's not as forgiving of rudeness as I am."

When I saw her, my jaw dropped.

I forgot my name. I forgot where I was. I forgot how to speak in complete sentences.

She was wearing a red satin dress and her hair was curled in a cascade of ringlets. Her face was the most beautiful I'd ever seen: perfect makeup, dazzling eyes, a smile that would've lit up the dark side of the moon.

Thinking back on it, I can't tell you who she looked like.

Or even what color her hair or her eyes were. Pick the most beautiful actress you can think of. The goddess was ten times more beautiful than that. Pick your favorite hair color, eye color, whatever. The goddess had that.

When she smiled at me, just for a moment she looked a little like Annabeth. Then Thalia. After Thalia, her face shifted into the different Thalia I just imagined.

That threw me over the top.

"Ah, there you are, Percy," the goddess said. "I am Aphrodite."

I slipped into the seat across from her and said something like, "Tha- you luh lah Tha."

She smiled. "Aren't you sweet. Hold this please."

She handed me a polished mirror the size of a dinner plate and had me hold it up for her. She leaned forward and dabbed at her lipstick, though I couldn't see anything wrong with it. As I got a closer look at her, I frowned. Her image was settled on Aphrodite and to be honest... there was way too much makeup. Although she still looked beautiful, I got the feeling that I hated too much makeup.

"Do you know why you're here?" she asked.

I wanted to respond. Why couldn't I form a complete sentence? She was only a lady. A seriously beautiful lady. With eyes like pools of spring water… Whoa.

I pinched my own arm, hard.

"I... I don't know," I managed.

"Oh, dear," Aphrodite said. "Still in denial?"

Outside the car, I could hear Ares chuckling. I had a feeling he could hear every word we said. The idea of him being out there made me angry, and that helped clear my mind.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said.

"Well then, why are you on this quest?"

"Artemis has been captured!"

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Oh, Artemis. _Please_. Talk about a hopeless case. I mean, if they were going to kidnap a goddess, she should be breathtakingly beautiful, don't you think? I pity the poor dears who have to imprison Artemis. Bo-ring!"

I think the thoughts of Ares being out there went a little far because I said, "No. They would capture someone who has brains." Immediately, I realized what I said and added, "_Plus_, she was chasing some horrible monster. We have to find it!"

Aphrodite frowned for a moment when I said that they needed to capture someone who has brains, but smiled when I said the second thing. "Oh, Percy. Always some monster. But that is why the _others_ are on this quest. I'm more interested in _you_."

"There has to be someone else who..." I cut myself off. "I... I need to find Annabeth."

Aphrodite frowned once more. "That is also true, but there is a different aspect of why. You said it yourself to Nico di Angelo."

I reflected on what I had said to Nico. I said I needed to go find Annabeth and protect Th... Realization hit me like a bullet train. "I'm... I'm here because of Thalia."

Aphrodite beamed. "Exactly!"

"I mean. I knew that it would be dangerous to help, but saving Annabeth isn't worth it if we lose Thalia on the way," I said. I added, "It would also be tragic if Zoe or Bianca or Grover died as well."

When Aphrodite looked at me once again, I got the feeling she knew I was lying. "Percy, Percy, Percy. There's no need to lie. I'm the reason you're here, after all."

I stared at her. "What?"

"The poisoned T-shirt the Stoll brothers gave Phoebe," she said. "Did you think that was an accident? Sending Blackjack to find you? Helping you sneak out of the camp?"

"_You_did that?"

"Of course! Because really, how boring these Hunters are! A quest for some monster, blah blah blah. Saving Artemis. Let her stay lost, I say. But a quest for true love-"

"Wait a second. How is wanting to protect-"

"Oh, my dear. You don't need to say it. You _do _know Thalia is having second thoughts about joining the Hunters, right?"

I glanced at the doorway where Ares stood outside. I don't think that he has a good heart. I mean, who would want to love him. I don't know how, but it seemed that an inner force was guiding me away from Aphrodite's charm. Thoughts swirled in my head, _Wow. The love goddess doesn't even love. She only feels lust._

Then my thoughts swirled to Thalia. She was having second thoughts about joining the Hunters.

"She's... she's having second thoughts?"

"She might throw her life away! And you, my dear, you can save her from that. It's so romantic!"

I wanted to say, 'Coming from the goddess who doesn't love... I mean, Athena would be much better to talk to about it.' Instead, I said, "Uh..."

"Oh, put the mirror down," Aphrodite ordered. "I look fine."

I hadn't realized I was still holding it, but as soon as I put it down, I noticed my arms were sore.

"Now listen, Percy," Aphrodite said. "The Hunters are your enemies. Forget them and Artemis and the monster. That's not important. You just concentrate on protecting Thalia from harm."

I guess Annabeth really rubbed off on me for the past two years because I said, "But forgetting about the monster could get us all killed. Artemis is also a key component in plans for going against Kronos. The Hunters... well two of them, are my friends. I can't go against my friends."

Aphrodite frowned. "You have to forget about them-"

I knew it was rude to interrupt a goddess, but I did anyway. This time, I used her element against her. "But love wouldn't exist if Kronos takes over."

She nodded, clearly in thought. "I suppose..." She smiled. "Anyway, I leave the decisions to you. It's been ages since we've had a good tragic love story."

"Whoa, first of all, who said anything about love. And second, what's up with _tragic_! Are you saying that Thalia and I are going to die?"

"Love conquers all," Aphrodite promised. "Look at Helen and Paris. Did they let anything come between them?"

"Well... that was because you _made_them love each other. That started the Trojan War and got thousands of people killed!"

"Pfft. That's not the point. Follow your heart."

"First, wouldn't your boyfriend say the war _is_the point? Second... I don't know where it's going. My heart, I mean."

She smiled sympathetically. Her face morphed into the imaginary Thalia's. Aphrodite really was beautiful. She believed in love so much, it was impossible not to feel giddy when she talked about it.

"Not knowing is half the fun," Aphrodite said. "Exquisitely painful, isn't it? Not being sure who you love and who loves you? Oh, you kids! It's so cute I'm going to cry."

"No, no," I replied. "Don't do that."

"And don't worry," she said. "I'm not going to let this be easy and boring for you. No, I have some wonderful surprises in store. Anguish. Indecision. Oh, you just wait."

"That's really okay," I told her nicely. "Don't go to any trouble."

"You're _so _cute. I wish all my daughters could break the heart of a boy as nice as you." Aphrodite's eyes were tearing up and I suddenly wished I was harsher. Curse my soft-natured heart. "Now you'd better go. And do be careful in my husband's territory, Percy. Don't take anything. He is awfully fussy about his trinkets and trash."

"What?" I asked. "You mean Hephaestus?"

But the car door opened and Ares grabbed my shoulder, pulling me out of the car and back into the desert night.

My audience with the goddess of love was over.

"You're lucky, punk." Ares pushed me away from the limo. "Be grateful."

"For what?"

"That we're being so nice. If it was up to me—"

"So why haven't you killed me?" I shot back. It was a stupid thing to say to the god of war, but being around him always made me feel angry and reckless.

Ares nodded, like I'd finally said something intelligent.

"I'd love to kill you, seriously," he said. "But see, I got a situation. Word on Olympus is that you might start the biggest war in history. I can't risk messing that up. Besides, Aphrodite thinks you're some kinda soap-opera star or something. I kill you, that makes me look bad with her. But don't worry. I haven't forgotten my promise. Someday soon, kid—real soon— you're going to raise your sword to fight, and you're going to remember the wrath of Ares."

I balled my fists. "Why wait? I beat you once. How's that ankle healing up?"

He grinned crookedly. "Not bad, punk. But you got nothing on the master of taunts. I'll start the fight when I'm good and ready. Until then… Get lost."

He snapped his fingers and the world did a three-sixty, spinning in a cloud of red dust. I fell to the ground.

When I stood up again, the limousine was gone. The road, the taco restaurant, the whole town of Gila Claw was gone. My friends and I were standing in the middle of the junkyard, mountains of scrap metal stretched out in every direction.

**Thalia's POV**

"What did she _want_with you?" Bianca asked after Percy told us about Aphrodite.

"She said that she was going to mess up with my love life," he groaned. "Plus not to pick anything up. Apparently Hephaestus is fussy about his 'junk.'"

Mess with his love life? Oh, no. She better not mean make him get closer with other girls.

Zoe warned Percy, "Be careful, Percy. Aphrodite has led many heroes astray."

"For once I agree with Zoe," I said grudgingly. "You can't trust Aphrodite."

Grover kept looking at Percy funny. I remembered that Percy and Grover had an empathy link, rather, they still have an empathy link. Grover must have known what Percy was feeling while talking with Aphrodite.

"So," Percy said anxiously. "How do we get out of here?"

"That way," Zoe said. "That is west."

"How can you tell?"

In the light of the full moon, I was surprised that I could see her roll her eyes at Percy, although she wasn't even facing me. "Ursa Major is in the north," she said, "which means _that_must be west."

She pointed west, then at the northern constellation, which was hard to make out because there were so many other stars. _Guess staying out at night with Annabeth and Luke didn't help me learn the constellations._

"Oh, yeah," Percy said. "The bear thing."

Zoe looked offended. "Show some respect. It was a fine bear. A worthy opponent."

"You act like it was real."

"Guys," Grover broke in. "Look!"

We'd reached the crest of a junk mountain. Piles of metal objects glinted in the moonlight: broken heads of bronze horses, metal legs from human statues, smashed chariots, tons of shields and swords and other weapons, along with more modern stuff, like cars that gleamed gold and silver, refrigerators, washing machines, and computer monitors.

"Whoa," Bianca said. "That stuff... some of it looks like real gold."

"It is," I said grimly. "Like Percy said, don't touch anything. This is the junkyard of the gods."

"Junk?" Grover picked up a beautiful crown made of gold, silver, and jewels. It was broken on one side, as if it had been split by an axe. "You call this junk?"

He bit off a point and began to chew. "It's delicious!"

I swatted the crown out of his hands. "I'm serious!"

"Look!" Bianca said. She raced down the hill, tripping over bronze coils and golden plates. She picked up a bow that glowed silver in moonlight. "A Hunter's bow!"

She yelped in surprise as the bow began to shrink, and became a hair clip shaped like a crescent moon. "It's just like Percy's sword!"

Zoe's face was grim. "Leave it, Bianca."

"But—"

"It is here for a reason. Anything thrown away in this junkyard must stay in this yard. It is defective. Or cursed."

Bianca reluctantly set the hair clip down.

"I don't like this place," I said. I gripped the shaft of her spear.

"You think we're going to get attacked by killer refrigerators?" Percy asked.

I gave him a hard look. "Zoe is right, Percy. Things get thrown away here for a reason. Now come on, let's get across the yard."

"That's the second time you've agreed with Zoe," he muttered, but I ignored him.

We started picking our way through the hills and valleys of junk. The cursed junk seemed to go on forever, and if it hadn't been for Ursa Major, we would've gotten lost. All the hills pretty much looked the same.

I'd like to say we left the stuff alone, but there was too much cool junk for Percy and Grover not to check out some of it. Percy found an electric guitar shaped like Apollo's lyre that was so 'sweet' he had to pick it up. Grover found a broken tree made out of metal. It had been chopped to pieces, but some of the branches still had golden birds in them, and they whirred around when Grover picked them up, trying to flap their wings.

Finally, we saw the edge of the junkyard about half a mile ahead of us, the lights of a highway stretching through the desert. But between us and the road…

"What is that?" Bianca gasped.

Ahead of us was a hill much bigger and longer than the others. It was like a metal mesa, the length of a football field and as tall as goalposts. At one end of the mesa was a row of ten thick metal columns, wedged tightly together.

Bianca frowned. "They look like—"

"Toes," Grover said.

Bianca nodded. "Really, really large toes."

Zoe and I exchanged nervous looks.

"Let's go around," I said. "Far around."

"But the road is right over there," Percy protested. "Quicker to climb over."

_Ping._

I hefted my spear and Zoe drew her bow, but then I realized it was only Grover.

He had thrown a piece of scrap metal at the toes and hit one, making a deep echo, as if the column were hollow.

"Why did you do that?" Zoe demanded.

Grover cringed. "I don't know. I, uh, don't like fake feet?"

"Come on." I looked at Percy. "Around."

He didn't argue. The toes were starting to freak me out, too. What kind of cursed item could those toes be from? A giant metal monster?

After several minutes of walking, we finally stepped onto the highway, an abandoned but well-lit stretch of black asphalt.

"We made it out," Zoe said. "Thank the gods."

But apparently the gods didn't want to be thanked. At that moment, I heard a sound like a thousand trash compactors crushing metal.

I whirled around. Behind us, the scrap mountain was boiling, rising up. The ten toes tilted over, and I realized why they looked like toes. They were toes. The thing that rose up from the metal was a bronze giant in full Greek battle armor. He was impossibly tall—a skyscraper with legs and arms. He gleamed wickedly in the moonlight. He looked down at us, and his face was deformed. The left side was partially melted off. His joints creaked with rust, and across his armored chest, written in thick dust by some giant finger, were the words WASH ME.

"Talos!" Zoe gasped what I was thinking.

"Who—who's Talos?" Percy stuttered.

"One of Hephaestus's creations," I said. "But that can't be the original. It's too small. A prototype, maybe. A defective model."

The metal giant didn't like the word defective.

He moved one hand to his sword belt and drew his weapon. The sound of it coming out of its sheath was horrible, metal screeching against metal. The blade was a hundred feet long, easy. It looked rusty and dull, but I didn't figure that mattered. Getting hit with that thing  
would hurt like Hades.

"Someone took something," Zoe said. "Who took something?"

She stared accusingly at Percy.

He shook his head. "I'm a lot of things, but I'm not a thief."

I agreed.

The giant defective Talos took one step toward us, closing half the distance and making the ground shake.

"Run!" Grover yelped.

**Percy's POV**

It was great advice, except that it was hopeless. At a leisurely stroll, this thing could outdistance us easily.

We split up, the way we'd done with the Nemean Lion. Thalia drew her shield and held it up as she ran down the highway. The giant swung his sword and took out a row of power lines, which exploded in sparks and scattered across Thalia's path.

Zoe's arrows whistled toward the creature's face but shattered harmlessly against the metal. Grover brayed like a baby goat and went climbing up a mountain of metal. Bianca and I ended up next to each other, hiding behind a broken chariot.

"You took something," I said. "That bow."

"No!" she said, but her voice was quivering.

"Give it back!" I said. "Throw it down!"

"I… I didn't take the bow! Besides, it's too late."

"What did you take?"

Before she could answer, I heard a massive creaking noise, and a shadow blotted out the sky.

"Move!" I tore down the hill, Bianca right behind me, as the giant's foot smashed a crater in the ground where we'd been hiding.

"Hey, Talos!" Grover yelled, but the monster raised his sword, looking down at Bianca  
and me.

Grover played a quick melody on his pipes. Over at the highway, the downed power lines began to dance. I understood what Grover was going to do a split second before it happened. One of the poles with power lines still attached flew toward Talos' back leg and wrapped around his calf The lines sparked and sent a jolt of electricity up the giant's backside.

Talos whirled around, creaking and sparking. Grover had bought us a few seconds.

"Come on!" I told Bianca. But she stayed frozen. From her pocket, she brought out a small metal figurine, a statue of a god. "It… it was for Nico. It was the only statue he didn't have."

"How can you think of Mythomagic at a time like this?" I said.

There were tears in her eyes.

"Throw it down," I said. "Maybe the giant will leave us alone."

She dropped it reluctantly, but nothing happened.

The giant kept coming after Grover. It stabbed its sword into a junk hill, missing Grover by a few feet, but scrap metal made an avalanche over him, and then I couldn't see him anymore.

"No!" Thalia yelled. She pointed her spear, and a blue arc of lightning shot out, hitting the monster in his rusty knee, which buckled. The giant collapsed, but immediately started to rise again. It was hard to tell if it could feel anything. There weren't any emotions in its half-melted face, but I got the sense that it was about as ticked off as a twenty-story-tall metal warrior could be.

He raised his foot to stomp and I saw that his sole was treaded like the bottom of a sneaker. There was a hole in his heel, like a large manhole, and there were red words painted around it, which I deciphered only after the foot came down: FOR MAINTENANCE ONLY.

"Crazy-idea time," I said.

Bianca looked at me nervously. "Anything."

I told her about the maintenance hatch. "There may be a way to control the thing. Switches or something. I'm going to get inside."

"How? You'll have to stand under its foot! You'll be crushed"

"Distract it," I said. "I'll just have to time it right."

Bianca's jaw tightened. "No. I'll go."

"You can't. You're new at this! You'll die. I promised Nico-"

"It's my fault the monster came after us," she said. "It's my responsibility. Here." She picked up the little god statue and pressed it into my hand. "If anything happens, give that to Nico. Tell him… tell him I'm sorry."

"Bianca, no!"

But she wasn't waiting for me. She charged at the monster's left foot.

Thalia had its attention for the moment. She'd learned that the giant was big but slow. If you could stay close to it and not get smashed, you could run around it and stay alive. At least, it was working so far.

Bianca got right next to the giant's foot, trying to balance herself on the metal scraps that swayed and shifted with his weight.

Zoe yelled, "What are you doing?"

"Get it to raise its foot!" she said.

Zoe shot an arrow toward the monster's face and it flew straight into one nostril. The giant straightened and shook its head.

"Hey, Junk Boy!" I yelled. "Down here."

I ran up to its big toe and stabbed it with Riptide. The magic blade cut a gash in the bronze.

Unfortunately, my plan worked. Talos looked down at me and raised his foot to squash me like a bug. I didn't see what Bianca was doing. I had to turn and run. The foot came down about two inches behind me and I was knocked into the air. I hit something hard and sat up, dazed. I'd been thrown into an Olympus-Air refrigerator.

The monster was about to finish me off, but Grover somehow dug himself out of the junk pile. He played his pipes frantically, and his music sent another power line pole whacking against Talos' thigh. The monster turned. Grover should've run, but he must've been too exhausted from the effort of so much magic. He took two steps, fell, and didn't get back up.

"Grover!" Thalia and I both ran toward him, but I knew we'd be too late.

The monster raised his sword to smash Grover. Then he froze.

Talos cocked his head to one side, like he was hearing strange new music. He started moving his arms and legs in weird ways, doing the Funky Chicken. Then he made a fist and punched himself in the face.

"Go, Bianca!" I yelled.

Zoe looked horrified. "She is inside?"

The monster staggered around, and I realized we were still in danger. Thalia and I grabbed Grover and ran with him toward the highway. Zoe was already ahead of us. She yelled, "How will Bianca get out?"

The giant hit itself in the head again and dropped his sword. A shudder ran through his whole body and he staggered toward the power lines.

"Look out!" I yelled, but it was too late.

The giant's ankle snared the lines, and blue flickers of electricity shot up his body. I hoped the inside was insulated. I had no idea what was going on in there. The giant careened back into the junkyard, and his right hand fell off, landing in the scrap metal with a horrible _CLANG!_

His left arm came loose, too. He was falling apart at the joints.

Talos began to run.

"Wait!" Zoe yelled. We ran after him, but there was no way we could keep up. Pieces of the robot kept falling off, getting in our way.

The giant crumbled from the top down: his head, his chest, and finally, his legs collapsed. When we reached the wreckage we searched frantically, yelling Bianca's name. We crawled around in the vast hollow pieces and the legs and the head. We searched until the sun started to rise, but no luck.

Zoe sat down and wept. I was stunned to see her cry.

Thalia yelled in rage and impaled her sword in the giant's smashed face.

"We can keep searching," I said. "It's light now. We'll find her."

"No we won't," Grover said miserably. "It happened just as it was supposed to."

"What are you talking about?" I demanded.

He looked up at me with big watery eyes. "The prophecy. One shall he lost in the land without rain."

Why hadn't I seen it? Why had I let her go instead of me?

I clutched the figurine that was in my hand. I sank to my knees next to Talos' head. And then I cried.

Here we were in the desert. And Bianca di Angelo was gone.

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story and the Pertemis story. This story may be posted more often as I have a referral to write it. The Pertemis story needs more planning and mapping.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**


	14. Zeus and Athena Help Us

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**I will also be making another story alongside this one.**

**One is going to be about Percy/Zoe.**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST and the second one I put up for adoption.**

**The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while I complete this story.**

******Go to The SilverEyed Angel's page to ask about the continuation of this story.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**Just in case you were wondering, the length of an update is according to the length of the chapters in the real book.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

Chapter 14: Zeus and Athena Help Us

**Percy's POV**

At the edge of the dump, we found a tow truck so old it might've been thrown away itself. But the engine started, and it had a full tank of gas, so we decided to borrow it.

Thalia drove. She didn't seem as stunned as Zoe or Grover or me.

"The skeletons are still out there," she reminded us. "We need to keep moving."

She navigated us through the desert, under clear blue skies, the sand so bright it hurt to look at. Zoe sat up front with Thalia. Grover and I sat in the pickup bed, leaning against the tow wench. The air was cool and dry, but the nice weather just seemed like an insult after losing Bianca. I remembered feeling the same way when my mom was captured a year and a half ago.

My hand closed once again around the little figure that had cost her life. I still couldn't even tell what god it was supposed to be. Nico would know.

_Nico._What was I going to tell Nico? I had promised him to keep Bianca safe, but I failed.

I wanted to believe that Bianca was still alive somewhere. But I had a bad feeling that she was gone for good.

"It should've been me," I said. "I should've gone into the giant."

"Don't say that!" Grover panicked. "It's bad enough Annabeth is gone, and now Bianca. Do you think I could stand it if..." He sniffled. "Do you think anybody _else_would be my best friend?"

"Ah, Grover... you know I'm going to die in a year and a half anyways. _But_," I emphasized before he could bawl his eyes out, "I'm sure a dryad will find some soft spot for you in the near future."

Truthfully, I couldn't see Grover having a girlfriend, but I needed to cheer him up somehow.

He wiped under his eyes with an oily cloth that left his face grimy, like he had on war paint. "I'm... I'm okay."

But he wasn't okay. Ever since the encounter in New Mexico—whatever had happened when that wild wind blew through—he seemed really fragile, even more emotional than usual. I was afraid to talk to him about it, because he might start bawling.

At least there's one good thing about having a friend who gets freaked out more than you do. I realized I couldn't stay depressed. I had to set aside thinking about Bianca and keep us going forward, the way Thalia was doing. I wondered what she and Zoe were talking about in the front of the truck.

The tow truck ran out of gas at the edge of a river canyon. That was just as well, because the road dead-ended.

Thalia got out and slammed the door. Immediately, one of the tires blew. "Great. What now?"

I scanned the horizon. There wasn't much to see. Desert in all directions, occasional clumps of barren mountains plopped here and there. The canyon was the only thing interesting. The river itself wasn't very big, maybe fifty yards across, green water with a few rapids, but it carved a huge scar out of the desert. The rock cliffs dropped away below us.

"There's a path," Grover said. "We could get to the river."

I tried to see what he was talking about, and finally noticed a tiny ledge winding down the cliff face. "That's a goat path," I said.

"So?" he asked.

"The rest of us aren't goats."

"We can make it," Grover said. "I think."

I thought about that. I'd done cliffs before, but I didn't like them. Then I looked over at Thalia and saw how pale she'd gotten. Her problem with heights... she'd never be able to do it.

"No," I said. "I'm not good with heights. I think we should go farther upstream."

Grover said, "But-"

"Come on," I said. "A walk won't hurt us."

I glanced at Thalia. Her eyes said a quick _Thank you_.

We followed the river about half a mile before coming to an easier slope that led down to the water. On the shore was a canoe rental operation that was closed for the season, but I left a stack of golden drachmas on the counter and a note saying _IOU two canoes_.

"We need to go upstream," Zoe said. It was the first time I'd heard her speak since the junkyard, and I was worried about how bad she sounded, like somebody with the flu. "The  
rapids are too swift."

"Leave that to me," I said. We put the canoes in the water.

Thalia pulled me aside as we were getting the oars. "Thanks for back there."

"Can you really..." She nodded to the rapids. "You know."

"I think so. Usually I'm good with water."

"Would you take Zoe?" she asked. "I think, ah, maybe you can talk to her."

"She's not going to like that."

"Please? I don't know if I can stand being in the same boat with her. She's... she's starting to worry me. And I would never trust Grover in a boat with Zoe alone."

We laughed. Although I'd prefer to take Thalia or Grover, I nodded.

Thalia's shoulders relaxed. "I owe you one."

"Two."

"One and a half," Thalia said.

She smiled. Although I was slightly shorter than her, it seemed as if we were on equal terms. I smiled back. Then we realized how awkwardly close we were. We were almost leaning on each other.

Thalia quickly spun around. As did I. I had a warm feeling on my cheeks.

As it turned out, I didn't even need to control the currents. As soon as we got in the river, I looked over the edge of the boat and found a couple of naiads staring at me.

They looked like regular teenage girls, the kind you'd see in any mall, except for the fact that they were underwater.

_Hey_, I said.

They made a bubbling sound that may have been giggling. I wasn't sure. I had a hard time understanding naiads.

_We're heading upstream_, I told them. _Do you think you could-_

Before I could even finish, the naiads each chose a canoe and began pushing us up the river. We started so fast, Grover fell into his canoe with his hooves sticking up in the air.

"I hate naiads," Zoe grumbled.

A stream of water squirted up from the back of the boat and hit Zoe in the face.

"She-devils!" Zoe went for her bow.

I put a hand up to stop her. "Whoa. They're just playing."

"Cursed water spirits. They've never forgiven me."

"Forgiven you for what?"

She slung her bow back over her shoulder. "It was a long time ago. Never mind."

We sped up the river, the cliffs looming up on either side of us.

"What happened to Bianca wasn't your fault," I told her. "It was my fault. I let her go."

I figured this would give Zoe an excuse to start yelling at me. At least that might shake her out of feeling depressed.

Instead, her shoulders slumped. "No, Percy. I pushed her into going on the quest. I was too anxious. She was a powerful half-blood. She had a kind heart, as well. I... I thought she would be the next lieutenant."

"But you're the lieutenant. You're not going to quit the Hunt are you? I thought the only way was if you fell in love with a boy?"

She gripped the strap of her quiver. She looked more tired than I'd ever seen her. "Nothing can last forever, Percy. Over two thousand years I have led the Hunt, and my wisdom has not improved. Now Artemis herself is in danger."

"Look, you can't blame yourself for that."

"If I had insisted on going with her-"

"You think you could've fought something powerful enough to kidnap Artemis? There's nothing you could have done. Besides, your wisdom has improved. You've seen the things men have done. You understand the ways of life and how sexist it is. Things are getting better, but men are still ruthless."

"Are thy calling thyself ruthless?"

"It seems so."

Zoe fell silent.

The cliffs along the river were getting taller. Long shadows fell across the water, making it a lot colder, even though the day was bright.

Without thinking about it, I took Riptide out of my pocket. Zoe looked at the pen, and her expression was pained.

"You made this," I said.

"Who told thee?"

"I had a dream about it."

She studied me. I was sure she was going to call me crazy, but she just sighed. "It was a gift. And a mistake."

"Who was the hero?" I asked.

Zoe shook her head. "Do not make me say his name. I swore never to speak it again."

"You act like I should know him."

"I am sure you do, hero. Don't all you boys want to be just like him?"

Her voice was so bitter, I decided not to ask what she meant. If that hero caused Zoe a tremendous amount of pain and heartbreak, I never want to be like that hero. I looked down at Riptide, and for the first time, I wondered if it was cursed.

"Your mother was a water goddess?" I asked.

"Yes, Pleione. She had five daughters. My sisters and I. The Hesperides."

"Those were the girls who lived in a garden at the edge of the West. With the golden apple tree and a dragon guarding it."

"Yes," Zoe said wistfully. "Ladon."

"But weren't there only four sisters?"

"There are now. I was exiled. Forgotten. Blotted out as if I never existed."

"Why?"

Zoe pointed to my pen. "Because I betrayed my family and helped a hero. You won't find that in the legend either. He never spoke of me. After his direct assault on Ladon failed, I gave him the idea of how to steal the apples, how to trick my father, but he took all the credit."

"But-"

_Gurgle_, _gurgle_, the naiad spoke in my mind. The canoe was slowing down.

I looked ahead, and I saw why.

This was as far as they could take us. The river was blocked. A dam the size of a football stadium stood in our path.

"Hoover Dam," Thalia said. "It's huge."

We stood at the river's edge, looking up at a curve of concrete that loomed between the cliffs. People were walking along the top of the dam. They were so tiny they looked like fleas.

The naiads had left with a lot of grumbling- not in words I could understand, but it was obvious they hate this dam blocking up their nice river. Our canoes floated back downstream, swirling in the wake from the dam's discharge vents.

"Seven hundred feet tall," I said. "Built in the 1930s."

"Five million cubic acres of water," Thalia said.

Grover sighed. "Largest construction project in the United States."

Zoe stared at us. "How do you know all that?"

"Annabeth," I said. "She liked architecture."

"She was nuts about monuments," Thalia said.

"Spouted facts all the time," Grover sniffled. "So annoying."

"I wish she were here," I said. "Then she'd get really pissed at you Grover."

Grover paled. "Uh. No thanks."

Thalia laughed. Zoe was still looking at us strangely, but I didn't care. It seemed like cruel fate that we'd come to Hoover Dam, one of Annabeth's personal favorites, and she wasn't here to see it.

"We should go up there," I said. "For her sake. Just to say we've been."

Zoe stared at me. Then she nodded. "You are mad," she decided. "But that's where the road is." She pointed to a huge parking garage next to the top of the dam. "And so, sightseeing it is."

We walked for almost an hour before we found a path that led up to the road. It came up on the east side of the river. Then we straggled back toward the dam. It was cold and windy on top. On one side, a big lake spread out, ringed by barren desert mountains. On the other side, the dam dropped away like the world's most dangerous skateboard ramp, down to the river seven hundred feet below, and water that churned from the dam's vents.

Thalia walked in the middle of the road, far away from the edges. Grover kept sniffing the wind and looking nervous. He didn't say anything, but I knew he smelled monsters.

"How close are they?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "Maybe not close. The wind on the dam, the desert all around us... the scent can probably carry for miles. But it's coming from several directions. I don't like that."

I didn't either. It was already Wednesday, only two days until the winter solstice, and we still had a long way to go. We didn't need any more monsters,

"There's a snack bar in the visitor center," Thalia said.

"You've been here before?" I asked.

"Once. To see the guardians." She pointed to the far end of the dam. Carved into the side of the cliff was a little plaza with two big bronze statues. They looked kind of like Oscar statues with wings.

"They were dedicated to Zeus when the dam was built," Thalia said. "A gift from Athena."

Tourists were clustered all around them. They seemed to be looking at the statues' feet.

"What are they doing?" I asked.

"Rubbing the toes," Thalia said. "They think it's good luck."

I stared at the mortals weirdly. I turned to Thalia and mouthed _Rubbing the toes? Why?_

She shrugged. "Mortals get crazy ideas. They don't know the statues are sacred to Zeus, but they know there's something special about them."

_Sacred to Zeus_, I thought.

I looked over at Thalia. "When you were here last, did they talk to you or anything?"

Thalia's expression darkened. I could tell that she'd come here before hoping for exactly that- some kind of sign from her dad; some connection between him and her. "No. They don't do anything. They're just big metal statues."

I had a feeling that these statues did something. Then I thought about the last big metal statue we'd run into. That hadn't gone so well. But I decided not to bring it up.

"Let us find the dam snack bar," Zoe said. "We should eat while we can."

If I was drinking water at the time I probably would have done a spit take. Grover cracked a smile. "The dam snack bar?"

Zoe blinked incomprehensibly. "Yes. What is funny?"

"Nothing," Grover said, trying to keep a straight face, but failing. "I could use some dam french fries."

Even Thalia started chuckling. "And I need to use the dam restroom."

Maybe it was the fact that we were so tired and strung out emotionally, but I started cracking up. Thalia and Grover joined in, while Zoe just looked at us. "I do not understand."

"I want to use the dam water fountain," Grover said.

"And..." Thalia tried to catch her breath. "I want to buy a dam T-shirt."

I busted up, and I probably would've kept laughing all day, but then I heard a noise. A very familiar noise:

"Moooo."

The smile melted off my face. I wondered if the noise was just in my head, but Grover had stopped laughing too. He was looking around, confused. "Did I just hear a cow?"

"A dam cow?" Thalia laughed.

"No," Grover said. "I'm serious."

Zoe listened. "I hear nothing.:

Thalia was looking at me worriedly. "Percy, are you okay?"

"Yeah," I said, my breath shaky. "You guys go ahead. I'll be right in."

"What's wrong?" Grover asked.

"Nothing," I said. "I... I just need a minute. To think."

They hesitated. Thalia looked extremely concerned. "Are you sure you're okay Percy?"

I smiled to the best of my ability. "I'm sure, Thalia. It's alright. Just some... thoughts about what Aphrodite said..."

Hesitant once more, they finally went into the visitor center without me. As soon as they were gone, I jogged to the north edge of the dam and looked over.

"Moo."

She was about thirty feet below in the lake, but I could see her clearly: my friend from Long Island Sound, Bessie the cow serpent.

I looked around. There were groups of kids running along the dam. A lot of senior citizens. Some families. But nobody seemed to be paying Bessie any attention yet.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her.

"Moo!"

Her voice was urgent, like she was trying to warn me of something.

"How did you get here?" I asked. We were thousands of miles from Long Island, hundreds of miles inland. There was no way she could've swum all the way here. And yet, here she was.

Bessie swam in a circle and butted her head against the side of the dam. "Moo!"

She wanted me to come with her. She was telling me to hurry.

"I can't," I told her. "My friends are inside."

She looked at me with her sad brown eyes. Then she gave one more urgent "Mooo!," did a flip, and disappeared into the water.

I hesitated. Something was wrong. She was trying to tell me that. I considered jumping over the side and following her, but then I tensed. The hairs on my arms bristled. I looked down the dam road to the east and I saw two men walking slowly toward me. They wore gray camouflage outfits that flickered over skeletal bodies.

They passed through a group of kids and pushed them aside. A kid yelled, "Hey!" One of the warriors turned, his face changing momentarily into a skull.

"Ah!" the kid yelled, and his whole group backed away.

I ran for the visitor center.

I was almost to the stairs when I heard tires squeal. On the west side of the dam, a black van swerved to a stop in the middle of the road, nearly plowing into some old people.

The van doors opened and more skeleton warriors piled out. I was surrounded.

I bolted down the stairs and through the museum entrance. The security guard at the metal detector yelled, "Hey, kid!" But I didn't stop.

I ran through the exhibits and ducked behind a tour group. I looked for my friends, but I couldn't see them anywhere. Where was the dam snack bar?

"Stop!" The metal-detector guy yelled.

There was no place to go but into an elevator with the tour group. I ducked inside just as the door closed.

"We'll be going down seven hundred feet," our tour guide said cheerfully. She was a park ranger, with long black hair pulled back in a ponytail and tinted glasses. I guess she hadn't noticed that I was being chased. "Don't worry, ladies and gentlemen, the elevator hardly ever breaks."

"Does this go to the snack bar?" I asked her.

A few people behind me chuckled. The tour guide looked at me. Something about her gaze made my skin tingle.

"To the turbines, young man," the lady said. "Weren't you listening to my fascinating presentation upstairs?"

"Oh, uh, sure. Is there another way out of the dam?"

"It's a dead end," a tourist behind me said. "For heaven's sake. The only way out is the other elevator."

The doors opened.

"Go right ahead, folks," the tour guide told us. "Another ranger is waiting for you at the end of the corridor."

I didn't have much choice but to go out with the group.

"And young man," the tour guide called. I looked back. She'd taken off her glasses. Her eyes were startlingly grey, like storm clouds. "There is always a way out for those clever enough to find it."

The doors closed with the tour guide still inside, leaving me alone.

_Grey eyes... like Annabeth_, I thought. But before I could ponder more about the woman in the elevator, a _ding_came from around the corner. The second elevator was opening, and I heard an unmistakable sound- the clattering of skeleton teeth.

I ran after the tour group, through a tunnel carved out of solid rock. It seemed to run forever. The walls were moist, and the air hummed with electricity and the roar of water. I came out on a U-shaped balcony that overlooked this huge warehouse area. Fifty feet below, enormous turbines were running. It was a big room, but I didn't see any other exit, unless I wanted to jump into the turbines and get churned up to make electricity. I didn't.

Another tour guide was talking over the microphone, telling the tourists about water supplies in Nevada. I prayed that Thalia, Zoe and Grover were okay. They might already be captured, or eating at the snack bar, completely unaware that we were being surrounded. And stupid me: I had trapped myself in a hole hundreds of feet below the surface.

I worked my way around the crowd, trying not to be too obvious about it. There was a hallway at the other side of the balcony- maybe some place I could hide. I kept my hand on Riptide, ready to strike.

By the time I got to the opposite side of the balcony, my nerves were shot. I backed into the little hallway and watched the tunnel I'd come from.

Then right behind me I heard a sharp _Chhh_! like the voice of a skeleton.

Without thinking, I uncapped Riptide and spun, slashing with my sword.

The girl I'd just tried to slice in half yelped and dropped her Kleenex.

"Oh my god.'" she shouted. "Do you always kill people when they blow their nose?"

The first thing that went through my head was that the sword hadn't hurt her. It had passed clean through her body, harmlessly. "You're mortal!"

She looked at me in disbelief. "What's that supposed to mean? Of course I'm mortal! How did you get that sword past security?"

"I didn't—Wait, you can see it's a sword?"

The girl rolled her eyes, which were green like mine. She had frizzy reddish-brown hair. Her nose was also red, like she had a cold. She wore a big maroon Harvard sweatshirt and jeans that were covered with marker stains and little holes, like she spent her free time poking them with a fork.

"Well, it's either a sword or the biggest toothpick in the world," she said. "And why didn't it hurt me? I mean, not that I'm complaining. Who are you? And whoa, what is that you're wearing? Is that made of lion fur?"

She asked so many questions so fast, it was like she was throwing rocks at me. I couldn't think of what to say. I looked at my sleeves to see if the Nemean Lion pelt had somehow changed back to fur, but it still looked like a brown winter coat to me.

I knew the skeleton warriors were still chasing me. I had no time to waste. But I just stared at the redheaded girl. Then I remembered what Thalia had done at Westover Hall to fool the teachers. Maybe I could manipulate the Mist.

I concentrated hard and snapped my fingers. "You don't see a sword," I told the girl. "It's just a ballpoint pen."

She blinked. "Um… no. It's a sword, weirdo."

"Who are you?" I demanded.

She huffed indignantly. "Rachel Elizabeth Dare. Now, are you going to answer my questions or should I scream for security?"

"No!" I said. "I mean, I'm kind of in a hurry. I'm in trouble."

"In a hurry or in trouble?"

"Um, sort of both."

She looked over my shoulder and her eyes widened. "Bathroom!"

"What?"

"Bathroom! Behind me! Now!"

I don't know why, but I listened to her. I slipped inside the boys' bathroom and left Rachel Elizabeth Dare standing outside. Later, that seemed cowardly to me. I'm also pretty sure it saved my life.

I heard the clattering, hissing sounds of skeletons as they came closer.

My grip tightened on Riptide. What was I thinking? I'd left a mortal girl out there to die. I was preparing to burst out and fight when Rachel Elizabeth Dare started talking in that rapid-fire machine gun way of hers.

"Oh my god! Did you see that kid? It's about time you got here. He tried to kill me! He had a sword, for god's sake. You security guys let a sword-swinging lunatic inside a national landmark? I mean, jeez! He ran that way toward those turbine thingies. I think he went over the side or something. Maybe he fell."

The skeletons clattered excitedly. I heard them moving off.

Rachel opened the door. "All clear. But you'd better hurry."

She looked shaken. Her face was gray and sweaty.

I peeked around the corner. Three skeleton warriors were running toward the other end of the balcony. The way to the elevator was clear for a few seconds.

"I owe you one, Rachel Elizabeth Dare."

"What are those things?" she asked. "They looked like—"

"Skeletons?"

She nodded uneasily.

"Do yourself a favor," I said. "Forget it. Forget you ever saw me."

"Forget you tried to kill me?"

"Yeah. That, too."

"But who are you?"

"Percy—" I started to say. Then the skeletons turned around. "Gotta go!"

"What kind of name is Percy Gotta-go?"

I bolted for the exit.

**Thalia's POV**

"What do you think is wrong with Percy?" Grover asked me as we entered the visitor center.

"I don't know, but it's worrying me. I've seen Percy when he's sad and scared, but I've never seen him so shaken up. I just feel like I need to help him and comfort him," I responded.

"Mhm," Grover said looking at me, concentrating. "But I swear. I heard a cow."

"I believe thy theory, but why would there be a cow at the Hoover Dam?" Zoe asked.

"I don't know, but things seem to be getting suspicious..." I replied.

We got to the dam snack bar and got in the dam burrito line.

"It's weird," I told them. "Ever... ever since Aphrodite's meeting with Percy last night I feel... different."

Grover kept staring at me. "Yeah. Mhm."

"Grover, can you stop staring at me like that?"

"What?" He snapped out of his daze. "Oh. Sorry. There's just a whole bunch of emotions swirling around you."

We stepped forward one pace in the line.

"Well. Decide what you're going to get," Grover said after a minute's pause.

As Zoe looked at the menu, Grover leaned into my ear and whispered. "You're totally in love with Percy."

I blushed a fiery red. I stuttered, "Wh-What are y-you talk-talking about?"

"I can sense emotions you know. You totally like him," he said.

"Fine. But don't tell him. Or else..." A flicker of lightning flashed on my right index finger.

Grover gulped. "All right. But I'm totally going to get you two together."

"You're not going to meddle in my love life. Aphrodite is," I said.

Zoe turned back to us. "All right. I have decided, but I can feel something wrong about this place. There is something out of place."

Grover sniffed around. "I don't smell any monsters... yet."

"Just be on the lookout," I told him.

He nodded in compliance.

A few minutes later, we ordered our food. Grover took too much time trying to meddle in Percy and my love life to remember to choose what he wanted.

While he chose, I thought about Percy. Percy Jackson. His sea green eyes, raven-black hair and childish yet cute face. I reached for my own hair. Like his, it was raven-black. My hair was spiky. _Not very attractive_, I thought.

The more I thought about him, the more flashbacks appeared in my head. Waking up from the tree and meeting his mesmerizing green eyes to dancing at Westover. I remembered our short and interrupted talk about Annabeth considering being a Hunter. Percy's feelings toward Annabeth popped into my mind as well. I felt a little pained at this, but I couldn't necessarily blame him for the same reason I could blame Luke for because he never loved me either. At least, that's what I think.

He _did_, however, blush when we held hands near the freight train. Grover interrupted my thoughts as he finally ordered:

"I'll get the Guacamole Grande, please."

We made our way to an empty table and started sitting down. That was when Percy sprinted toward us.

"We need to leave," he gasped. "Now!"

"But we just got our burritos!" I said. I didn't see what Percy was so worried about even though I was only staring at my burrito.

Zoe stood up next to me, muttering an Ancient Greek curse. "He's right! Look."

I looked up and gasped. The cafe windows wrapped all the way around the observation floor, which gave us a beautiful panoramic view of the outside of the Hoover Dam. It also gave us a view of the skeletons that were after my Percy.

Wait... _my_Percy? What have you done to me Aphrodite?

There were two on the east side of the dam road, block the way to Arizona. Three more were on the west side, guarding Nevada. All of them were armed with batons and pistols.

But our immediate problem was a lot closer. Three more skeletal warriors now appeared on the stairs. They were staring and Percy and clattered their teeth.

"Elevator!" Grover exclaimed. We bolted in that direction, but the doors opened with a _ding_, and three more warriors stepped out. Every warrior was accounted for, minus the one Bianca had burned in New Mexico. We were completely surrounded.

Then Grover had a stupid idea that pretty much saved our lives... for now.

"Burrito fight!" he yelled, and flung his Guacamole Grande at the nearest skeleton.

Flying burritos may not be as dangerous as grenades and cannonballs, but when an entire cafeteria starts throwing them everywhere, it can become as hectic as Hades. Grover's lunch hit the skeleton and knocked his skull clean of its shoulders. I'm not sure what the other kids in the cafe saw, but they went crazy and started throwing their burritos and baskets of chips and sodas at each other, shrieking and screaming.

The skeletons tried to aim their guns, but it was hopeless. Bodies and food and drinks were flying everywhere.

In the chaos, Percy and I tackled the other two skeletons on the stairs and sent them flying into the condiment table. Then we all raced downstairs, Guacamole Grades whizzing past our heads.

"What now?" Grover asked as we burst outside.

I didn't have an answer. The warriors that were on the road were closing in from either direction. We ran across the street to the pavilion with the winged bronze statues, but that just put our backs to the mountain.

The skeletons moved forward, forming a crescent around us. Their brethren from the cafe were running up to join them. One was still putting its skull back on its shoulders. Another was covered in ketchup and mustard. Two more had burritos lodged in their rib cages. They didn't look happy about it. They drew their batons and advanced.

"Four against eleven," Zoe muttered. "And _they_cannot die."

"It's been nice adventuring with you guys," Grover said, his voice trembling.

Percy turned around. I was about to ask what he was doing, but he said, "Whoa. Their toes really are bright."

"Percy!" I said. "This isn't the time."

But he kept staring at the statues. _At least I'll die here with Percy_, I thought.

The skeletons got closer. Zoe had her bow out, but didn't shoot. The arrows wouldn't harm them anyway. Grover had his reed pipes about, but he was too scared to play them.

Then, Percy started muttering almost inaudible things. "Good luck...blessing of Zeus..._blessing_...tour guide...her grey eyes...smile...black hair...clever..."

"Percy what are you talking about?" I asked.

But he was concentrating too hard. He didn't hear me. After a couple seconds, an idea formed in Percy's head. I could tell by his facial expression.

"Thalia," he said. "Pray to your dad."

_That's his plan?_I glared at him. "He never answers."

"Just this once," he pleaded. "Ask for help. I think... I think the statues can give us some luck."

Six skeletons raised their guns. The other five came forward with batons. Fifty feet away. Forty feet.

"Do it!" he yelled.

"No!" I said stubbornly. "He won't answer me."

"This time is different!"

"Who says?"

"Athena... I think."

I scowled at him. As worried as I was about Percy's mental health, it definitely worked out for the worst at this point. But then I heard him muttering about a woman with grey eyes and black hair. That had to be Athena, but why would she help Percy, her rival's son.

"Try it," Grover pleaded.

I closed my eyes and I prayed to my father. _Dad, please help us, give us the blessing of the metal angles. We need this._

I opened my eyes and waited for something to happen, but as I expected, nothing did.

The skeletons closed in on us. Percy raised Riptide and I help up Aegis. I got one hand on my mace canister ready to take it out in an instant. Zoe pushed Grover behind her and aimed an arrow at the skeletons.

A shadow fell over us. _What in the world?_Then I saw the shape of a wing, an enormous wing. The skeletons looked up too late. A flash of bronze, and all five of the baton-wielders were swept aside.

The other skeletons opened fire on us. Percy stepped forward to protect us from the bullets, but the bronze angels were quick. They stepped in front of us and folded their wings like shields. Bullets pinged off of them like rain off a corrugated roof. Both angels slashed outward, and the skeletons went flying across the road.

"Man it feels good to stand up!" the first angel said. His voice sounded rusty.

"Will ya look at my toes?" the other said. "Holy Zeus, what were those tourists thinking?"

I was stunned and kept staring at the angles. _My dad actually helped me_, I thought. I small smile broke out on my face. _Thank you, father._

Percy said, breaking me out of my thoughts, "Trouble!"

"Get us out of here!" I yelled to the angels.

Both angels looked down at her. "Zeus' kid?"

"Yes!"

"Could I get a _please_, Miss Zeus' Kid?" an angel asked.

"Please!"

The angels looked at each other and shrugged.

"Could use a stretch," one decided.

And the next thing I knew, one of them grabbed Percy and me, the other grabbed Zoe and Grover, and we flew straight up, over the dam and the river, the skeleton warriors shrinking to tiny specks below us and the sound of gunfire echoing off the sides of the mountains.

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**

******Go to The SilverEyed Angel's page to ask about the continuation of this story.**


	15. Percy Meets Santa's Twin

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST and the second one I put up for adoption.**

**The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while I complete this story.**

**Go to The SilverEyed Angel's page to ask about the continuation of this story.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**Just in case you were wondering, the length of an update is according to the length of the chapters in the real book.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

Chapter 15: Percy Meets Santa's Twin

**Percy's POV**

When we took off, Thalia yelped and shut her eyes tight. Somehow, she managed to grab onto me even though we were more than my arm's length away from each other.

"She your girlfriend?" the statue holding us asked.

We blushed. "No."

"All right," he said, but moved us closer together anyway.

Thalia peeked out and shrieked again. She hugged onto me like I could fly. Ironic as she's the daughter of Zeus and I'm the son of Poseidon.

"Tell me when it's over," she said.

"Everything's fine," I promised, patting her back.

"Are... are we very high?"

I looked down. Below us, a range of snowy mountains zipped by. I stretched out my foot and kicked snow off one of the peaks.

"Nah," I lied. "Not that high."

"We are in the Sierras," Zoe yelled. She and Grover were hanging from the arms of the other statue. "I have hunted her before. At this speed, we should be in San Francisco in a few hours."

Thalia hugged me tighter. What Zoe said didn't make Thalia feel any better. It was for the first time this entire trip that I noticed Thalia and I were hugging each other tightly.

I whispered in Thalia's ear, "It's going to be all right."

She raised her head and slowly opened her eyes. She didn't freak out. I didn't know why because all I could do was stare into her eyes. Our foreheads were already touching and I felt the urge to lean in. I was about to as well when our angel interrupted us.

"Hey, hey, Frisco!" it said. "Yo, Chuck! We could visit those guys at the Mechanics Monument again! They know how to party!"

When our angel interrupted us, Thalia and I noticed the position we were in and blushed. Thalia looked down when she blushed and saw our altitude. She shrieked and held onto me tightly once again.

"Oh, man," the other angel said. "I am _so_there!"

"You guys have visited San Francisco?" I asked.

"We automatons gotta have some fun once in awhile, right?" our statue said. "Those mechanics took us over to the Young Museum and introduced us to these marble lady  
statues, see. And—"

"Hank!" the statue Chuck cut in. "They're kids, man."

"Oh, right." If bronze statues could blush, I swear Hank did. "Back to flying."

We sped up, so I could tell the angels were excited. The mountains fell away into hills and then we were zipping along over farmland and towns and highways.

Grover played his pipes to pass the time. Zoe got bored and started shooting arrows at random billboards as we flew by. Every time she saw a Target department store- and we passed dozens of them -she would peg the store's sign with a few bulls-eyes at a hundred miles an hour.

Thalia kept her eyes closed the whole way. She muttered to herself a lot, praying to her father.

"You did good back there," I told her. "Zeus listened."

It was hard to tell what she was thinking with her eyes closed.

"Maybe," she said. "How did you get away from the skeletons in the generator room, anyway? You said they cornered you."

I told her about the weird mortal girl, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, who seemed to be able to see right through the Mist. I thought Thalia was going to call me crazy, but she just nodded.

"Some mortals are like that," she said. "Nobody knows why."

Suddenly I flashed on something I'd never considered.

"My _mom_is like that," I muttered.

"What?" Thalia asked.

"My _mom_can see through the Mist," I replied.

She saw the Minotaur on Half-Blood Hill and known exactly what it was. She hadn't been surprised at all last year when I'd told her Tyson was really a Cyclops. Maybe she'd known all along. No wonder she'd been so scared for me as I was growing up. She saw through the Mist even better than I did.

"Well, the girl was annoying," I said. "But I'm glad I didn't vaporize her. That would've been bad."

Thalia nodded. "Must be nice to be a regular mortal." She said that as if she'd given it a lot of thought.

I decided to take a nap to pass time.

"Where you guys want to land?" Hank asked, waking me up from a nap.

I looked down and said, "Whoa."

I'd seen San Francisco in pictures before, but never in real life. It was probably the most beautiful city I'd ever seen: kind of like a smaller, cleaner Manhattan, if Manhattan had been surrounded by green hills and fog. There was a huge bay and ships, islands and sailboats, and the Golden Gate Bridge sticking up out of the fog. I felt like I should take a picture or something. _Greetings from Frisco. Haven't Died Yet. Wish You Were Here._

"There," Zoe suggested. "By the Embarcadero Building."

"Good thinking," Chuck said. "Me and Hank can blend in with the pigeons."

We all looked at him.

"Kidding," he said. "Sheesh, can't statues have a sense of humor?"

As it turned out, there wasn't much need to blend in. It was early morning and not many people were around. We freaked out a homeless guy on the ferry dock when we landed. He screamed when he saw Hank and Chuck and ran off yelling something about metal angels from Mars.

We said our goodbyes to the angels, who flew off to party with their statue friends. That's when I realized I had no idea what we were going to do next.

We'd made it to the West Coast. Artemis was here somewhere. Annabeth too, I hoped. But I had no idea how to find them, and tomorrow was the winter solstice. Nor did I have any clue what monster Artemis had been hunting. It was supposed to find us on the quest. It was supposed to "show the trail," but it never had. Now we were stuck on the ferry dock with not much money, no friends, and no luck.

After a brief discussion, we agreed that we needed to figure out just what this mystery monster was.

"But how?" I asked.

"Nereus," Grover said.

I looked at him. "What?"

"Isn't that what Apollo told you to do? Find Nereus?"

I nodded. I'd completely forgotten my last conversation with the sun god.

"The old man of the sea," I remembered. "I'm supposed to find him and force him to tell us what he knows. But how do I find him?"

Zoe made a face. "Old Nereus, eh?"

"You know him?" Thalia asked.

"My mother was a sea goddess. Yes, I know him. Unfortunately, he is never very hard to find. Just follow the smell."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Come," she said without enthusiasm. "I will show thee."

I knew I was in trouble when we stopped at the Goodwill drop box. Five minutes later, Zoe had me outfitted in a ragged flannel shirt and jeans three sizes too big, bright red sneakers, and a floppy rainbow hat.

"Oh, yeah," Grover said, trying not to bust out laughing, "you look completely inconspicuous now."

Zoe nodded with satisfaction. "A typical male vagrant."

"Thanks a lot," I grumbled. "Why am I doing this again?"

"I told thee. To blend in."

She led the way back down to the waterfront. After a long time spent searching the docks, Zoe finally stopped in her tracks. She pointed down a pier where a bunch of homeless guys were huddled together in blankets, waiting for the soup kitchen to open for lunch.

"He will be down there somewhere," Zoe said. "He never travels very far from the water. He likes to sun himself during the day."

"How do I know which one is him?"

"Sneak up," she said. "Act homeless. You will know him. He will smell… different."

"Great." I didn't want to ask for particulars. "And once I find him?"

"Grab him," she said. "And hold on. He will try anything to get rid of thee. Whatever he does, do not let go. Force him to tell thee about the monster."

"We've got your back," Thalia smiled at me. She picked something off the back of my shirt- a big clump of fuzz that came from who-knows-where. "Eww. On second thought... I don't want your back. But we'll be rooting for you."

Grover gave me a big thumbs-up.

I grumbled how nice it was to have super-powerful friends. Then I headed toward the dock.

I pulled my hat down and stumbled like I was about to pass out, which wasn't hard considering how tired I was. I passed our homeless friend from the Embarcadero, who was still trying to warn the other guys about the metal angels from Mars.

He didn't smell good, but he didn't smell… different. I kept walking.

A couple of grimy dudes with plastic grocery bags for hats checked me out as I came close.

"Beat it, kid!" one of them muttered.

I moved away. They smelled pretty bad, but just regular old bad. Nothing unusual.

There was a lady with a bunch of plastic flamingos sticking out of a shopping cart. She glared at me like I was going to steal her birds.

At the end of the pier, a guy who looked about a million years old was passed out in a patch of sunlight. He wore pajamas and a fuzzy bathrobe that probably used to be white. He was fat, with a white beard that had turned yellow, kind of like Santa Claus, if Santa had been  
rolled out of bed and dragged through a landfill.

And his smell?

As I got closer, I froze. He smelled bad, all right—but ocean bad. Like hot seaweed and dead fish and brine. If the ocean had an ugly side… this guy was it.

I tried not to gag as I sat down near him like I was tired. Santa opened one eye suspiciously. I could feel him staring at me, but I didn't look. I muttered something about stupid school and stupid parents, figuring that might sound reasonable.

Santa Claus went back to sleep.

I tensed. I knew this was going to look strange. I didn't know how the other homeless people would react. But I jumped Santa Claus.

"Ahhhhhl" he screamed. I meant to grab him, but he seemed to grab me instead. It was as if he'd never been asleep at all. He certainly didn't act like a weak old man. He had a grip like steel. "Help me!" he screamed as he squeezed me to death.

"That's a crime!" one of the other homeless guys yelled. "Kid rolling an old man like that!"

I rolled, all right—straight down the pier until my head slammed into a post. I was dazed for a second, and Nereus' grip slackened. He was making a break for it. Before he could, I regained my senses and tackled him from behind.

"I don't have any money!" He tried to get up and run, but I locked my arms around his chest. His rotten fish smell was awful, but I held on.

"I don't want money," I said as he fought. "I'm a half-blood! I want information."

That just made him struggle harder. "Heroes! Why do you always pick on me?"

"Because you know everything!"

He growled and tried to shake me off his back. It was like holding on to a roller coaster. He thrashed around, making it impossible for me to keep on my feet, but I gritted my teeth and squeezed tighter. We staggered toward the edge of the pier and I got an idea.

"Oh, no!" I said. "Not the water!"

The plan worked. Immediately, Nereus yelled in triumph and jumped off the edge. Together, we plunged into San Francisco Bay.

He must've been surprised when I tightened my grip, the ocean filling me with extra strength. But Nereus had a few tricks left, too. He changed shape until I was holding a sleek black seal.

I've heard people make jokes about trying to hold a greased pig, but I'm telling you, holding on to a seal in the water is harder. Nereus plunged straight down, wriggling and thrashing and spiraling through the dark water. If I hadn't been Poseidon's son, there's no way I could've stayed with him.

Nereus spun and expanded, turning into a killer whale, but I grabbed his dorsal fin as he burst out of the water.

A whole bunch of tourists went, "Whoa!"

I managed to wave at the crowd. _Yeah, we do this every day here in San Francisco._

Nereus plunged into the water and turned into a slimy eel. I started to tie him into a knot until he realized what was going on and changed back to human form. "Why won't you drown?" he wailed, pummeling me with his fists.

"I'm Poseidon's son," I said.

"Curse that upstart! I was here first!"

Finally he collapsed on the edge of the boat dock. Above us was one of those tourist piers lined with shops, like a mall on water. Nereus was heaving and gasping. I was feeling great. I could've gone on all day, but I didn't tell him that. I wanted him to feel like he'd put up a good fight.

My friends ran down the steps from the pier.

"You got him!" Zoe said.

"You don't have to sound so amazed," I said.

Nereus moaned. "Oh, wonderful. An audience for my humiliation! The normal deal, I suppose? You'll let me go if I answer your question?"

"I've got more than one question," I said.

"Only one question per capture! That's the rule."

I looked at my friends.

This wasn't good. I needed to find Artemis, and I needed to figure out what the doomsday creature was. I also needed to know if Annabeth was still alive, and how to rescue her. How could I ask that all in one question?

I glanced at Zoe. She would probably want me to ask about Artemis. I shifted my gaze to Grover. He would want to ask about Artemis as well. Last, was Thalia. She would want to ask about Annabeth.

However, I listened to Chiron. "All right, Nereus. Tell me where to find this terrible monster that could bring an end to the gods. The one Artemis was hunting."

The Old Man of the Sea smiled, showing off his mossy green teeth.

"Oh, that's too easy," he said evilly. "He's right there."

Nereus pointed to the water at my feet.

"Where?" I said.

"The deal is complete!" Nereus gloated. With a pop, he turned into a goldfish and did a back flip into the sea.

"You tricked me!" I yelled.

"Wait." Thalia's eyes widened. "What is _that_?"

"MOOOOOOOOOOO!"

I looked down, and there was my friend the cow serpent, swimming next to the dock. She nudged my shoe and gave me the sad brown eyes.

"Ah, Bessie," I said. "Not now."

"Mooo!"

Grover gasped. "He says his name isn't Bessie."

"You can understand her... er, him?"

Grover nodded. It's a very old form of animal speech. But he says his name is the Ophiotaurus."

"The Ophi-what?"

"It means serpent bull in Greek," Thalia said. "But what's it doing here?"

"Moooooooo!"

"He says Percy is his protector," Grover announced. "And he's running from the bad people. He says they are close."

I was wondering how you got all that out of a single _moooooo_.

"Wait," Zoe said, looking at me. "You know this cow?"

I was feeling impatient, but I told them the story.

Thalia shook her head in disbelief. "And you just forgot to mention this before?"

"Well... yeah." It seemed silly, now that she said it, but things had been happening so fast. Bessie, the Ophiotaurus, seemed like a minor detail.

"I am a fool," Zoe say suddenly. "I know this story!"

"What story?"

"From the War of the Titans," she said. "My... my father told me this tale, thousands of years ago. _The bane of Olympus shows the trail._This is the beast we are looking for."

"Bessie?" I looked down at the bull serpent. "But... he's too cute. He couldn't destroy the world."

"That is how we were wrong," Zoe said. "We've been anticipating a huge dangerous monster, but the Ophiotaurus does not bring down the gods that way. He must be sacrificed."

"MMMM," Bessie lowed.

"I don't think he likes the S-word," Grover said.

I patted Bessie on the head, trying to calm him down. He let me scratch his ear, but he was trembling.

"How could anyone hurt him?" I said. "He's harmless."

Zoe nodded. "But there is power in killing innocence. Terrible power. The Fates ordained a prophecy eons ago, when this creature was born. They said that whoever killed the Ophiotaurus and sacrificed its entrails to fire would have the power to destroy the gods."

"MMMMMMMM!"

"Um," Grover said. "Maybe we could avoid talking about _entrails_, too."

Thalia stared at the cow serpent with wonder. "The power to destroy the gods… how? I mean, what would happen?"

"No one knows," Zoe said. "The first time, during the Titan war, the Ophiotaurus was in fact slain by a giant ally of the Titans, but thy father, Zeus, sent an eagle to snatch the entrails away before they could be tossed into the fire. It was a close call. Now, after three thousand years, the Ophiotaurus is reborn."

Thalia sat down on the dock. She stretched out her hand. Bessie went right to her. Thalia placed her hand on his head. Bessie shivered.

Thalia's expression bothered me. She looked almost... hungry.

I glanced at Grover with worry in my eyes. He concentrated on Thalia and his eyes widened. He mouthed _Tell you later_.

"We have to protect him," I told Thalia. "If Luke gets hold of him-"

"Luke wouldn't hesitate," Thalia muttered. "The power to overthrow Olympus. That's... that's huge."

Thalia reached out once again and I heard thunder grumble in the clear sky.

"Yes, it is, my dear," said a man's voice in a heavy French accent. "And it is a power _you_shall unleash."

The Ophiotaurus made a whimpering sound and submerged.

I looked up. We'd been so busy talking, we'd allowed ourselves to be ambushed.

Standing behind us, his two-color eyes gleaming wickedly, was Dr. Thorn, the manticore himself.

"This is just pairrr-fect," the manticore gloated.

He was wearing a ratty black trench coat over his Westover Hall uniform, which was torn and stained. His military haircut had grown out spiky and greasy. He hadn't shaved recently, so his face was covered in silver stubble. Basically he didn't look much better than the guys down at the soup kitchen.

"Long ago, the gods banished me to Persia," the manticore said. "I was forced to scrounge for food on the edges of the world, hiding in forests, devouring insignificant human farmers for my meals. I never got to fight any great heroes. I was not feared and admired in the old stories! But now that will change. The Titans shall honor me, and I shall feast on the flesh of half-bloods!"

On either side of him stood two armed security guys, some of the mortal mercenaries I'd seen in D.C. Two more stood on the next boat dock over, just in case we tried to escape that way. There were tourists all around—walking down the waterfront, shopping at the pier above us—but I knew that wouldn't stop the manticore from acting.

"Where… where are the skeletons?" I asked the manticore.

He sneered. "I do not need those foolish undead! The General thinks I am worthless? He will change his mind when I defeat you myself!"

I needed time to think. I had to save Bessie. I could dive into the sea, but how could I make a quick getaway with a five-hundred-pound cow serpent? And what about my friends?

"We beat you once before," I said.

"Ha! You could barely fight me with a goddess on your side. And, alas… that goddess is preoccupied at the moment. There will be no help for you now."

Zoe notched an arrow and aimed it straight at the manticore's head. The guards on either side of us raised their guns.

"Wait!" I said. "Zoe, don't!"

The manticore smiled. "The boy is right, Zoe Nightshade. Put away your bow. It would be a shame to kill you before you witnessed Thalia's great victory."

"What are you talking about?" Thalia growled. She had her shield and spear ready.

"Surely it is clear," the manticore said. "This is your moment. This is why Lord Kronos brought you back to life. You will sacrifice the Ophiotaurus. You will bring its entrails to the sacred fire on the mountain. You will gain unlimited power. And you will overthrow Olympus."

No one spoke. It made terrible sense. I saw the way Thalia was looking at the beast looking almost hungry. They would use Thalia to destroy Olympus. But the Great Prophecy said and child of the Big Three who turns sixteen would decide the fate of Olympus.

"But... but she isn't sixteen!" I said.

"Oh, but we can wait," the manticore said.

_But that would give us an opportunity to get a quest to save her_, I thought.

I looked over at Thalia. I thought she would tell the manticore off, but she stood there completely stunned.

"You know it is the right choice," the manticore told her. "Your friend Luke recognized it. You shall be reunited with him. You shall rule this world together under the auspices of the Titans. Your father abandoned you, Thalia. He cares nothing for you. And now you shall gain power over him. Crush the Olympians underfoot, as they deserve. Call the beast! It will come to you. Use your spear."

"Thalia," I said, "snap out of it!"

She looked at me the same way she had the morning she woke up on Half-Blood Hill, dazed and uncertain. It was almost like she didn't know me. "I... I don't-"

"Your father helped you," I said. "He sent the metal angels. He turned you into a tree to preserve you."

Her hand tightened on the shaft of her spear.

I looked at Grover desperately. Thank the gods, he understood what I needed. He raised his pipes to his mouth and played a quick riff.

The manticore yelled, "Stop him!"

The guards had been targeting Zoe, and before they could figure out that the kid with the pipes was the bigger problem, the wooden planks at their feet sprouted new branches and tangled their legs. Zoe let loose two quick arrows that exploded at their feet in clouds of  
sulfurous yellow smoke. Fart arrows!

The guards started coughing. The manticore shot spines in our direction, but they  
ricocheted off my lion's coat.

"Grover," I said, "tell Bessie to dive deep and stay down!"

"Mooooooo!" Grover translated. I could only hope that Bessie got the message.

"The cow..." Thalia muttered, still in a daze.

"Come on!" I pulled her along as we ran up the stairs to the shopping center on the pier. We dashed around the corner of the nearest store. I heard the manticore shouting at his minions, "Get them!" Tourists scream as the guards shot blindly into the air.

We scrambled to the end of the pier. We hid behind a little kiosk filled with souvenir crystals—wind chimes and dream catchers and stuff like that, glittering in the sunlight. There was a water fountain next to us. Down below, a bunch of sea lions were sunning themselves on the rocks. The whole of San Francisco Bay spread out before us: the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, and the green hills and fog beyond that to the north. A picture-perfect moment, except for the fact that we were about to die and the world was going to end.

"Go over the side!" Zoe told me. "You can escape in the sea, Percy. Call on thy father for help. Maybe you can save the Ophiotaurus."

She was right, but I couldn't do it.

"I won't leave you guys," I said. "We fight together."

"You have to get word to camp!" Grover said. "At least let them know what's going on!"

Then I noticed the crystals making rainbows in the sunlight. There was a drinking fountain next to me…

"Get word to camp," I muttered. "Good idea."

I uncapped Riptide and slashed off the top of the water fountain. Water burst out of the busted pipe and sprayed all over us.

Thalia gasped as the water hit her. The fog seemed to clear from her eyes. "Are you crazy?" she asked.

But Grover understood. He was already fishing around in his pockets for a coin. He threw a golden drachma into the rainbows created by the mist and yelled, "O goddess, accept my offering!"

The mist rippled.

"Camp Half-Blood!" I said.

And there, shimmering in the Mist right next to us, was the last person I wanted to see: Mr. D, wearing his leopard-skin jogging suit and rummaging through the refrigerator.

He looked up lazily. "Do you mind?"

"Where's Chiron!" I shouted.

"How rude." Mr. D took a swig from a jug of grape juice. "Is that how you say hello?"

"Hello," I amended. "We're about to die! Where's Chiron?"

Mr. D considered that. I wanted to scream at him to hurry up, but I knew that wouldn't work. Behind us, footsteps and shouting—the manticore's troops were closing in.

"About to die," Mr. D mused. "How exciting. I'm afraid Chiron isn't here. Would you like me to take a message?"

I looked at my friends. "We're dead."

Thalia gripped her spear. She looked like her old angry self again. "Then we'll die fighting."

"How noble," Mr. D said, stifling a yawn. "So what is the problem, exactly?"

I didn't see that it would make any difference, but I told him about the Ophiotaurus.

"Mmm." He studied the contents of the fridge. "So that's it. I see."

"You don't even care!" I screamed. "You'd just as soon watch us die!"

"Let's see. I think I'm in the mood for pizza tonight."

I wanted to slash through the rainbow and disconnect, but I didn't have time. The manticore screamed, "There!" And we were surrounded. Two of the guards stood behind him. The other two appeared on the roofs of the pier shops above us. The manticore threw off his coat and transformed into his true self, his lion claws extended and his spiky tail bristling with poison barbs.

"Excellent," he said. He glanced at the apparition in the mist and snorted. "Alone, without any real help. Wonderful."

"You could ask for help," Mr. D murmured to me, as if this were an amusing thought.

"You could say please."

_When wild boars fly_, I thought. There was no way I was going to die begging a slob like Mr. D, just so he could laugh as we all got gunned down.

Zoe readied her arrows. Grover lifted his pipes. Thalia raised her shield, and I noticed a tear running down her cheek. Suddenly it occurred to me: this had happened to her before. She had been cornered on Half-Blood Hill. She'd willingly given her life for her friends. But this time, she couldn't save us.

How could I let that happen to her?

"Please, Mr. D," I muttered. "Help."

Of course, nothing happened.

The manticore grinned. "Spare the daughter of Zeus. She will join us soon enough. Kill the others."

The men raised their guns, and something strange happened. You know how you feel when all the blood rushes to your head, like if you hang upside down and turn right-side up too quickly? There was a rush like that all around me, and a sound like a huge sigh. The sunlight tinged with purple. I smelled grapes and something more sour—wine.

_SNAP!_

It was the sound of many minds breaking at the same time. The sound of madness. One guard put his pistol between his teeth like it was a bone and ran around on all fours. Two others dropped their guns and started waltzing with each other. The fourth began doing what looked like an Irish clogging dance. It would have been funny if it hadn't been so terrifying.

"No!" screamed the manticore. "I will deal with you myself!"

His tail bristled, but the planks under his paws erupted into grapevines, which immediately began wrapping around the monster's body, sprouting new leaves and clusters of green baby grapes that ripened in seconds as the manticore shrieked, until he was engulfed in a huge mass of vines, leaves, and full clusters of purple grapes. Finally the grapes stopped shivering, and I had a feeling that somewhere inside there, the manticore was no more.

"Well," said Dionysus, closing his refrigerator. "That was fun."

I stared at him, horrified. "How could you… How did you—"

"Such gratitude," he muttered. "The mortals will come out of it. Too much explaining to do if I made their condition permanent. I hate writing reports to Father."

He stared resentfully at Thalia. "I hope you learned your lesson, girl. It isn't easy to resist power, is it?"

Thalia blushed as if she were ashamed. _So her fatal flaw is power_, I thought to myself.

"Mr. D," Grover said in amazement. "You… you saved us."

"Mmm. Don't make me regret it, satyr. Now get going, Percy Jackson. I've bought you a few hours at most."

"The Ophiotaurus," I said. "Can you get it to camp?"

Mr. D sniffed. "I do not transport livestock. That's your problem."

"But where do we go?"

Dionysus looked at Zoe. "Oh, I think the huntress knows. You must enter at sunset today, you know, or all is lost. Now good-bye. My pizza is waiting."

"Mr. D," I said.

He raised his eyebrow.

"You called me by my right name," I said. "You called me Percy Jackson."

"I most certainly did not, Peter Johnson. Now off with you!"

He waved his hand, and his image disappeared in the mist.

All around us, the manticore's minions were still acting completely nuts. One of them had found our friend the homeless guy, and they were having a serious conversation about metal angels from Mars. Several other guards were harassing the tourists, making animal noises and trying to steal their shoes.

I looked at Zoe. "What did he mean… 'You know where to go'?"

Her face was the color of the fog. She pointed across the bay, past the Golden Gate. In the distance, a single mountain rose up above the cloud layer.

"The garden of my sisters," she said. "I must go home."

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**

**Go to The SilverEyed Angel's page to ask about the continuation of this story.**


	16. Dragons Have Bad Breath

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians' quotes and plot line. I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST and the second one I put up for adoption.**

**The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while I complete this story.**

**Go to The SilverEyed Angel's page to ask about the continuation of this story.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**Just in case you were wondering, the length of an update is according to the length of the chapters in the real book.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

Chapter 16: Dragons Have Bad Breath

**Zoe's POV (I am poor at writing in Old English so excuse me if I put you/your instead of thy/thou/thee)**

"We will never make it," I said. "We are moving too slow. But we cannot leave the Ophiotaurus."

"Mooo," the Ophiotaurus said. He swam next to Percy as we jogged along the waterfront. We had left the shopping center pier far behind. We were heading toward the Golden Gate Bridge, but it was too far. The sun was already dipping in the west.

"I don't get it," Percy said. "Why do we have to get there at sunset?"

"The Hesperides are the nymphs of the sunset," Zoe said. "We can only enter their garden as day changes to night."

"What happens if we miss it?"

"Tomorrow is the winter solstice. If we miss sunset tonight, we would have to wait until tomorrow evening. And by then, the Olympian Council will be over. We must free Lady Artemis tonight."

Thalia and Percy exchanged a glance. I could tell that they were thinking about their friend, Annabeth.

"We need a car," Thalia said.

"But what about Bessie?" Percy asked.

Grover stopped in his tracks. "I've got an idea! The Ophiotaurus can appear in different bodies of water, right?"

"Well, yeah," Percy said. "I mean, he was in Long Island Sound. Then he just popped into the water at Hoover Dam. And now he's here."

"So maybe we could coax him back to Long Island Sound," Grover said. "Then Chiron could help us get him to Olympus."

"But he was following _me_," Percy said. "If I'm not there, would he know where he's going?"

"Moo," the Ophiotaurus said forlornly.

"I... I can show him," Grover said. "I'll go with him."

By the tone of Grover's voice, and Percy's reaction, I could tell that Grover was no fan of the water.

"I'm the only one who can talk to him," Grover said. "It makes sense."

He bent down and said something in the Ophiotaurus' ear. The Ophiotaurus shivered, then made a contented, lowing sound. _The blessing of the Wild._

"The blessing of the Wild," Grover said. "That should help with safe passage. Percy, pray to your dad, too. See if he will grant us safe passage through the seas."

I hope this works and the Ophiotaurus kept safe for the time being. I can die as long as I know it is safe. I knew I was getting closer to my final point. I knew that soon, my father would kill me, although how was a mystery to me.

Percy concentrated and the waves seemed drawn to him.

"Dad," he said. "Help us. Get the Ophiotaurus and Grover safely to camp. Protect them at sea."

"A prayer like that needs a sacrifice," Thalia said. "Something big."

I mentally cursed. _We do not have anything to sacrifice... except for the coat._

Percy thought for a second. Then he took off his coat. I almost gasped. He would sacrifice that?

"Percy," Grover said. "Are you sure? That lion skin... that's really helpful. Hercules used it!"

Percy faltered. I watched him carefully. I fully expected him to throw the jacket back onto himself and try to find something else to sacrifice. But he surprised me.

He glanced at me with realization in his eyes. His gaze turned to sympathy and then to disappointment. And he said,

"If I'm going to survive, it won't be because I've got a lion-skin cloak. I'm not Hercules."

I smiled at a man for the first time since Hercules. Percy was different. He wasn't deceitful like other men. Percy Jackson is the only man I approve of in my existence.

He threw the coat into the bay. It turned back into a golden lion skin, flashing in the light. Then, as it began to sink beneath the waves, it dissolved, indicating that the sacrifice had worked.

The sea breeze picked up.

Grover took a deep breath. "Well, no time to lose."

He jumped in the water and immediately began to sink. The Ophiotaurus glided next to him and let Grover take hold of his neck.

"Be careful," Percy told them.

"We will," Grover said. "Okay, um... Bessie? We're going to Long Island. It's east. Over that way."

"Moooo?" the Ophiotaurus asked.

"Yes," Grover answered. "Long Island. It's this island. And... it's long. Oh, let's just start."

"Mooo!"

Bessie lurched forward. He started to submerge and Grover said, "I can't breathe underwater! Just thought I'd mention-" _Glub!_

Under they went.

"Well, that is one problem addressed," I said. "But how can we get to my sisters' garden?"

"Thalia's right," Percy said. "We need a car. But there's nobody to help us here. Unless we, uh, borrowed one."

"There must be somebody that could help us here," I said. "'Borrowing' is not the best thing underage-looking children should be doing."

"Wait," Thalia said. She started rifling through her backpack. "There _is_somebody in San Francisco who can help us. I've got the address here somewhere."

"Who?" Percy asked.

Thalia pulled out a crumpled piece of notebook paper and held it up. "Professor Chase. Annabeth's dad."

**Percy's POV (I still want a couple of Zoe's thoughts in the story, but I am not very good at writing in her point of view. Those certain thoughts will appear randomly in the story so do not be alarmed if I have '**_**Zoe thought...**_**' in Percy or Thalia's POV)**

After hearing Annabeth gripe about her dad for two years, I was expecting him to have devil horns and fangs. I was _not_expecting him to be wearing an old-fashioned aviator's cap and goggles. He looked so weird, with his eyes bugging out through the glasses, that we all took a step back on the front porch.

"Hello," he said in a friendly voice, "are you delivering my airplanes?"

Thalia, Zoe, and I looked at each other warily.

"Um, no, sir," I said.

"Drat," he said. "I need three more Sopwith Camels."

"Right," I said, though I had no clue what he was talking about. "We're friends of Annabeth."

"Annabeth?" He straightened as if I'd just given him an electric shock. "Is she alright? Has something happened?"

None of us answered, but our faces must've told him that something was very wrong. He took off his cap and goggles. He had sandy-colored hair like Annabeth and intense brown eyes. He was handsome, I guess, for an older guy, but it looked like he hadn't shaved in a couple of days, and his shirt was buttoned wrong, so one side of his collar stuck up higher than the other side.

"You'd better come in," he said.

It didn't look like a house they'd just moved into. There were LEGO robots on the stairs and two cats sleeping on the sofa in the living room. The coffee table was stacked with magazines, and a little kid's winter coat was spread on the floor. The whole house smelled like fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies. There was jazz music coming from the kitchen. It seemed like a messy, happy kind of home—the kind of place that had been lived in forever.

"Dad!" a little boy screamed. "He's taking apart my robots!"

"Bobby," Dr. Chase called absently, "don't take apart your brother's robots."

"I'm Bobby," the little boy protested. "He's Matthew!"

"Matthew," Dr. Chase called, "don't take apart your brother's robots!"

"Okay, Dad!"

Dr. Chase turned to us. "We'll go upstairs to my study. This way."

"Honey?" a woman called. Annabeth's stepmom appeared in the living room, wiping her hands on a dish towel. She was a pretty Asian woman with red highlighted hair tied in a bun.

"Who are our guests?" she asked.

"Oh," Dr. Chase said. "This is…"

He stared at us blankly.

"Frederick," she chided. "You forgot to ask them their names?"

We introduced ourselves a little uneasily, but Mrs. Chase seemed really nice. She asked if we were hungry. We admitted we were, and she told us she'd bring us some cookies and sandwiches and sodas.

"Dear," Dr. Chase said. "They came about Annabeth."

I half expected Mrs. Chase to turn into a raving lunatic at the mention of her stepdaughter, but she just pursed her lips and looked concerned. "All right. Go on up to the study and I'll bring you some food." She smiled at me. "Nice meeting you, Percy. I've heard a lot about you."

Upstairs, we walked into Dr. Chase's study and I said, "Whoa!"

The room was wall-to-wall books, but what really caught my attention were the war toys. There was a huge table with miniature tanks and soldiers fighting along a blue painted river, with hills and fake trees and stuff. Old-fashioned biplanes hung on strings from the ceiling, tilted at crazy angles like they were in the middle of a dogfight.

Dr. Chase smiled. "Yes. The Third Battle of Ypres. I'm writing a paper, you see, on the use of Sopwith Camels to strafe enemy lines. I believe they played a much greater role than they've been given credit for."

He plucked a biplane from its string and swept it across the battlefield, making airplane engine noises as he knocked down little German soldiers.

"Oh, right," I said. I knew Annabeth's dad was a professor of military history. She'd never mentioned he played with toy soldiers.

Zoe came over and studied the battlefield. "The German lines were farther from the river."

Dr. Chase stared at her. "How do you know that?"

"I was there," she said matter-of-factly. "Artemis wanted to show us how horrible war was, the way mortal men fight each other. And how foolish, too. The battle was a complete waste."

Dr. Chase opened his mouth in shock. "You—"

"She's a Hunter, sir," Thalia said. "But that's not why we're here. We need—"

"You saw the Sopwith Camels?" Dr. Chase said. "How many were there? What formations did they fly?"

"Sir," Thalia broke in again. "Annabeth is in danger."

That got his attention. He set the biplane down.

"Of course," he said. "Tell me everything."

It wasn't easy, but we tried. Meanwhile, the afternoon light was fading outside. We were running out of time.

When we'd finished, Dr. Chase collapsed in his leather recliner. He laced his hands.

"My poor brave Annabeth. We must hurry."

"Sir, we need transportation to Mount Tamalpais," Zoe said. "And we need it immediately."

"I'll drive you. Hmm. it would be faster to fly in my Camel, but it only seats two."

"Whoa, you have an actual biplane?" I said.

"Down at Crissy Field," Dr. Chase said proudly. "That's the reason I had to move here. My sponsor is a private collector with some of the finest World War I relics in the world. He let me restore the Sopwith Camel—"

"Sir," Thalia said. "Just a car would be great. And it might be better if we went without you. It's too dangerous."

Dr. Chase frowned uncomfortably. "Now wait a minute, young lady. Annabeth is my daughter. Dangerous or not, I… I can't just—"

"Snacks," Mrs. Chase announced. She pushed through the door with a tray full of peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwiches and Cokes and cookies fresh out of the oven, the chocolate chips still gooey. Thalia and I inhaled a few cookies while Zoe said, "I can drive, sir. I'm not as young as I look. I promise not to destroy your car."

Mrs. Chase knit her eyebrows. "What's this about?"

"Annabeth is in danger," Dr. Chase said. "On Mount Tam. I would drive them, but… apparently it's no place for mortals."

It sounded like it was really hard for him to get that last part out.

I waited for Mrs. Chase to say no. I mean, what mortal parent would allow three underage teenagers to borrow their car? To my surprise, Mrs. Chase nodded. "Then they'd better get going."

"Right!" Dr. Chase jumped up and started patting his pockets. "My keys…"

His wife sighed. "Frederick, honestly. You'd lose your head if it weren't wrapped inside your aviator hat. The keys are hanging on the peg by the front door."

"Right!" Dr. Chase said.

Zoe grabbed a sandwich. "Thank you both. We should go. Now"

We hustled out the door and down the stairs, the Chases right behind us.

"Percy," Mrs. Chase called as I was leaving, "tell Annabeth… Tell her she still has a home here, will you? Remind her of that."  
I took one last look at the messy living room, Annabeth's half brothers spilling LEGOs  
and arguing, the smell of cookies filling the air. Not a bad place, I thought. But she's going to join the Hunters.  
"I'll try to convince her," I promised uncertainly.

We ran out to the yellow VW convertible parked in the driveway. The sun was going down. I figured we had less than an hour to save Artemis and Annabeth.

"Can't this thing go any fast?" Thalia demanded. Zoe glared at her. "I cannot control traffic."

"Girls, will you shut up and drive?" I asked.

"Why don't you?!" they said in unison.

Zoe weaved in and out of traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge. The sun was sinking on the horizon when we finally got into Marin County and exited the highway.

The roads were insanely narrow, winding through forests and up the sides of hills and around the edges of steep ravines. Zoe didn't slow down at all.

"Why does everything smell like cough drops?" I asked.

"Eucalyptus." Zoe pointed to the huge trees all around us.

"The stuff koala bears eat?"

"And monsters," she said. "They love chewing the leaves. Especially dragons."

"Dragons chew eucalyptus leaves?"

"Believe me," Zoe said, "if you had dragon breath, you would chew eucalyptus too."

I didn't question her, but I did keep my eyes peeled more closely as we drove. Ahead of us loomed Mount Tamalpais. I guess, in terms of mountains, it was a small one, but it looked plenty huge as we were driving toward it.

"So that's the Mountain of Despair?" I asked.

"Yes," Zoe said tightly.

"Why do they call it that?"

She was silent for almost a mile before answering. "After the war between the Titans and the gods, many of the Titans were punished and imprisoned. Kronos was sliced to piece and thrown into Tartarus. Kronos' right-hand man, the general of his forces, was imprisoned up there, on the summit, just beyond the Garden of the Hesperides."

"The General," I said. Clouds seemed to be swirling around its peak, as though the mountain was drawing them in, spinning them like a top. "What's going on up there? A storm?"

Zoe didn't answer. I got the feeling she knew exactly what the clouds meant, and she didn't like it.

"We have to concentrate," Thalia said. "The Mist is really strong here."

"The magical kind or the natural kind?" I asked.

"Both."

The gray clouds swirled even thicker over the mountain, and we kept driving straight toward them. We were out of the forest now, into wide open spaces of cliffs and grass and rocks and fog.

I happened to glance down at the ocean as we passed a scenic curve, and I saw something that made me jump out of my seat.

"Look!" But we turned a corner and the ocean disappeared behind the hills.

"What?" Thalia asked.

"A big white ship," I said. "Docked near the beach. It looked like a cruise ship."

Her eyes widened. "Luke's ship?"

I wanted to say I wasn't sure. It might be a coincidence. But I knew better. The Princess Andromeda, Luke's demon cruise ship, was docked at that beach. That's why he'd sent his ship all the way down to the Panama Canal. It was the only way to sail it from the East Coast to California.

"We will have company, then," Zoe said grimly. "Kronos' army."

I was about to answer, when suddenly the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. Thalia shouted, "Stop the car. NOW!"

Zoe must've sensed something was wrong, because she slammed on the brakes without question. The yellow VW spun twice before coming to a stop at the edge of the cliff.

"Out!" Thalia opened the door and pushed me hard. We both rolled onto the pavement. The next second: _BOOOM_!

Lightning flashed, and Dr. Chase's Volkswagen erupted like a canary-yellow grenade. I probably would've been killed by shrapnel except for Thalia's shield, which appeared over me. I heard a sound like metal ram, and when I opened my eyes, we were surrounded by wreckage. Part of the VW's fender had impaled itself in the street. The smoking hood was spinning in circles. Pieces of yellow metal were strewn across the road.

I swallowed the taste of smoke out of my mouth, and looked at Thalia. "You saved my life."

"_One shall perish by a parent's hand_," she muttered. "Curse him. He would destroy me? _Me_?"

It took me a second to realize she was talking about her dad. "Oh, hey, that couldn't have been Zeus' lightning bolt. No way."

"Whose, then?" Thalia demanded.

"I don't know. Zoe said Kronos' name. Maybe he-"

Thalia shook her head, looking angry and stunned. "No. That wasn't it."

"It wasn't the prophecy. If he were to kill you, you would be dead already," I tried pleading.

She was too stubborn to accept it. "No."

"Wait," I said. "Where's Zoe? Zoe!"

We both got up and ran around the blasted VW. Nothing inside. Nothing either direction down the road. I looked down the cliff. No sign of her.

"Zoe!" I shouted.

Then she was standing right next to me, pulling me by my arm. "Silence, fool! Do you want to wake Ladon?"

"You mean we're here?"

"Very close," she said. "Follow me."

Sheets of fog were drifting right across the road. Zoe stepped into one of them, and when the fog passed, she was no longer there. Thalia and I looked at each other.

"Concentrate on Zoe," Thalia advised. "We are following her. Go straight into the fog and keep that in mind."

"Wait, Thalia. About what happened back on the pier... I mean, with the manticore and the sacrifice-"

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You wouldn't actually have... you know?"

She hesitated. "It was just my fatal flaw," she admitted.

"Power," we said at the same time.

I nodded. "Zeus didn't send that lightning bolt at the car. It was Kronos. He's trying to manipulate you, make you angry at your dad."

She took a deep breath. "Percy, I know you're trying to make me feel better. Thanks. But come on. We need to go."

She stepped into the fog, into the Mist, and I followed.

When the fog cleared, I was still on the side of the mountain, but the road was dirt. The grass was thicker. The sunset made a blood red slash across the sea. The summit of the mountain seemed closer now, swirling with storm clouds and raw power. There was only one path to the top, directly in front of us. And it led through a lush meadow of shadows and flowers: the garden of twilight, just like I'd seen in my dream.

If it hadn't been for the enormous dragon, the garden would've been the most beautiful place I'd ever seen. The grass shimmered with silvery evening light, and the flowers were such brilliant colors they almost glowed in the dark. Stepping stones of polished black marble led around either side of a five-story-tall apple tree, every bough glittering with golden apples,  
and I don't mean yellow golden apples like in the grocery store. I mean real golden apples. I can't describe why they were so appealing, but as soon as I smelled their fragrance, I knew that one bite would be the most delicious thing I'd ever tasted.

"The apples of immortality," Thalia said. "Hera's wedding gift from Zeus."

I wanted to step right up and pluck one, except for the dragon coiled around the tree. Now, I don't know what you think of when I say dragon. Whatever it is, it's not scary enough. The serpent's body was as thick as a booster rocket, glinting with coppery scales. He had more heads than I could count, as if a hundred deadly pythons had been fused together. He appeared to be asleep. The heads lay curled in a big spaghetti-like mound on the grass, all the eyes closed.

Then the shadows in front of us began to move. There was a beautiful, eerie singing, like voices from the bottom of a well. I reached for Riptide, but Zoe stopped my hand. Four figures shimmered into existence, four young women who looked very much like Zoe. They all wore white Greek chitons. Their skin was like caramel. Silky black hair tumbled loose around their shoulders. It was strange, but I'd never realized how beautiful Zoe was until I saw her siblings, the Hesperides. They looked just like Zoe—gorgeous, and probably very dangerous.

"Sisters," Zoe said.

"We do not see any sister," one of the girls said coldly. "We see two half-bloods and a Hunter. All of whom shall soon die."

"You've got it wrong." I stepped forward. "Nobody is going to die."

The girls studied me. They had eyes like volcanic rock, glassy and completely black.

"Perseus Jackson," one of them said.

"Yes," mused another. "I do not see why he is a threat."

"Who said I was a threat?"

The first Hesperid glanced behind her, toward the top of the mountain. "They fear thee. They are unhappy that this one has not yet killed thee."

She pointed at Thalia.

"Tempting sometimes," Thalia admitted. "But no, thanks. He's my... friend."

I don't know why, but when she said we were just friends, I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach. Alright, I admit that I do like, maybe love, Thalia. Hearing her say that we were friends kinda hurt.

"There are no friends here, daughter of Zeus," the girl said. "Only enemies. Go back."

"Not without Annabeth," Thalia said.

"And Artemis," Zoe said. "We must approach the mountain."

"You know he will kill thee," the girl said. "You are no match for him."

"Artemis must be freed," Zoe insisted. "Let us pass."

The girl shook her head. "You have no rights here anymore. We have only to raise our voices and Ladon will wake."

"He will not hurt me," Zoe said.

"No? And what about thy so-called friends?"

Then Zoe did the last thing I expected. She shouted, "Ladon! Wake!"

The dragon stirred, glittering like a mountain of pennies. The Hesperides yelped and scattered. The lead girl said to Zoe, "Are you mad?"

"You never had any courage, sister," Zoe said. "That is thy problem."

The dragon Ladon was writhing now, a hundred heads whipping around, tongues flickering and tasting the air. Zoe took a step forward, her arms raised.

"Zoe, don't," Thalia said. "You're not a Hesperid anymore. He'll kill you."

"Ladon is trained to protect the tree," Zoe said. "Skirt around the edges of the garden. Go up the mountain. As long as I am a bigger threat, he should ignore thee."

"_Should_," I said. "Not exactly reassuring."

"It is the only way," she said. "Even the three of us together cannot fight him."

Ladon opened his mouths. The sound of a hundred heads hissing at once sent a shiver down my back, and that was before his breath hit me. The smell was like acid. It made my eyes burn, my skin crawl, and my hair stand on end. I remembered the time a rat had died inside our apartment wall in New York in the middle of the summer. This stench was like that, except a hundred times stronger, and mixed with the smell of chewed eucalyptus. I promised myself right then that I would never ask a school nurse for another cough drop.

I wanted to draw my sword. But then I remembered my dream of Zoe and Hercules, and how Hercules had failed in a head-on assault. I decided to trust Zoe's judgment.

Thalia went left. I went right. Zoe walked straight toward the monster.

"It's me, my little dragon," Zoe said. "Zoe has come back."

Ladon shifted forward, then back. Some of the mouths closed. Some kept hissing. Meanwhile, the Hesperides shimmered and turned into shadows. The voice of the eldest whispered, "Fool."

"I used to feed thee by hand," Zoe continued, speaking in a soothing voice as she stepped toward the golden tree. "Do you still like lamb's meat?"

The dragon's eyes glinted.

Thalia and I were about halfway around the garden. Ahead, I could see a single rocky trail leading up to the black peak of the mountain. The storm swirled above it, spinning on the summit like it was the axis for the whole world.

We'd almost made it out of the meadow when something went wrong. I felt the dragon's mood shift. Maybe Zoe got too close. Maybe the dragon realized he was hungry. Whatever the reason, he lunged at Zoe.

Two thousand years of training kept her alive. She dodged one set of slashing fangs and tumbled under another, weaving through the dragon's heads as she ran in our direction, gagging from the monster's horrible breath.

I drew Riptide to help.

"No!" Zoe panted. "Run!"

The dragon snapped at her side, and Zoe cried out. Thalia uncovered Aegis, and the dragon hissed. In his moment of indecision, Zoe sprinted past us up the mountain, and we followed.

The dragon didn't try to pursue. He hissed and stomped the ground, but I guess he was well trained to guard that tree. He wasn't going to be lured off even by the tasty prospect of eating some heroes.

We ran up the mountain as the Hesperides resumed their song in the shadows behind us. The music didn't sound so beautiful to me now—more like the soundtrack for a funeral.

At the top of mountain were ruins, blocks of black granite and marble as big as houses. Broken columns. Statues of bronze that looked as though they'd been half melted.

"The ruins of Mount Othrys," Thalia whispered in awe.

"Yes," Zoe said. "It was not here before. This is bad."

"What's Mount Othrys?" I asked, feeling like a fool as usual.

"The mountain fortress of the Titans," Zoe said. "In the first war, Olympus and Othrys were the two rival capitals of the world. Othrys was—" She winced and held her side.

"You're hurt," I said. "Let me see."

_So kind_, Zoe thought. _But I am fated to die._

"No! It is nothing. I was saying… in the first war, Othrys was blasted to pieces."

"But… how is it here?"

Thalia looked around cautiously as we picked our way through the rubble, past blocks of marble and broken arch ways. "It moves in the same way that Olympus moves. It always exists on the edges of civilization. But the fact that it is here, on this mountain, is not good."

"Why?"

"This is Atlas's mountain," Zoe said. "Where he holds—" She froze. Her voice was ragged with despair. "Where he used to hold up the sky."

We had reached the summit. A few yards ahead of us, grey clouds swirled in a heavy vortex, making a funnel cloud that almost touched the mountaintop, but instead rested on the shoulders of a twelve-year old girl with auburn hair and a tattered silvery dress: Artemis, her legs bound to the rock with celestial bronze chains. This is what I had seen in my dream. It hadn't been a cavern roof that Artemis was forced to hold. It was the roof of the world.

"My lady!" Zoe rushed forward, but Artemis said. "Stop! It is a trap. You must leave now."

Her voice was strained. She was drenched in sweat. I had never seen a goddess in pain before, but the weight of the sky was clearly too much for Artemis.

Zoe was crying. She ran forward despite Artemis' protests, and tugged at the chains.

A booming voice spoke behind us: "Ah, how touching."

We turned. The General was standing there in his brown silk suit. At his side were Luke and half a dozen dracaenae bearing the golden sarcophagus of Kronos. Annabeth stood at Luke's side. She had her hands cuffed behind her back, a gag in her mouth, and Luke was holding the point of his sword to her throat.

I met her eyes, trying to ask her a thousand questions. There was just one message she  
was sending me, though: _RUN_.

I looked back to Luke and growled.

"Luke," Thalia snarled. "Let her go."

Luke's smile was weak and pale. He looked even worse than he had three days ago in D.C. "That is the General's decision, Thalia. But it's good to see you again."

Thalia spat at him.

The General chuckled. "So much for old friends. And you, Zoe. It's been a long time. How is my little traitor? I will enjoy killing you."

"Do not respond," Artemis groaned. "Do not challenge him."

"Wait a second," I said. "You're Atlas?"

The General glanced at me. "So, even the stupidest of heroes can finally figure  
something out. Yes, I am Atlas, the general of the Titans and terror of the gods. Congratulations. I will kill you presently, as soon as I deal with this wretched girl."

"You're not going to hurt Zoe," I said. "I won't let you."

The General sneered. "You have no right to interfere, little hero. This is a family matter."

I frowned. "A family matter?"

"Yes," Zoe said bleakly. "Atlas is my father."

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**

**Go to The SilverEyed Angel's page to ask about the continuation of this story.**


	17. The Titan's Curse One Must Withstand

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians' quotes and plot line. I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST and the second one I put up for adoption.**

**The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while I complete this story.**

**Go to The SilverEyed Angel's page to ask about the continuation of the Pertemis story.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**Just in case you were wondering, the length of an update is according to the length of the chapters in the real book.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

Chapter 17: The Titan's Curse One Must Withstand

**Percy's POV**

The horrible thing was: I could see the family resemblance. Atlas had the same regal expression as Zoe, the same cold proud look in his eyes that Zoe sometimes got when she was mad, though on him it looked a thousand times more evil. He was all the things I'd originally disliked about Zoe, with none of the good I'd come to appreciate.

"Let Artemis go," Zoe demanded.

Atlas walked closer to the chained goddess. "Perhaps you'd like to take the sky for her, then? Be my guest."

Zoe opened her mouth to speak, but Artemis said, "No! Do not offer, Zoe! I forbid you."

Atlas smirked. He knelt next to Artemis and tried to touch her face, but the goddess bit at him, almost taking off his fingers.

"Hoo-hoo," Atlas chuckled. "You see, daughter? Lady Artemis likes her new job. I think I will have all the Olympians take turns carrying my burden, once Lord Kronos rules again, and this is the center of our palace. It will teach those weaklings some humility."

I looked at Annabeth. She was desperately trying to tell me something. She motioned her head toward Luke. But all I could do was stare at her. I hadn't noticed before, but something about her had changed. Her blonde hair was now streaked with grey.

"From holding the sky," Thalia muttered, as if she'd read my mind. "The weight should've killed her."

Atlas laughed. "How little you understand, young one. This is the point where the sky and the earth first met, where Ouranos and Gaia first brought forth their mighty children, the Titans. The sky still yearns to embrace the earth. Someone must hold it at bay, or else it would crush down upon this place, instantly flattening the mountain and everything within a hundred leagues. Once you have taken the burden, there is no escape." Atlas smiled. "Unless someone else takes it from you."

He approached us, studying Thalia and me. "So these are the best heroes of the age, eh?  
Not much of a challenge."

"Fight us," I said. "And let's see."

"Are you crazy?" Thalia hissed at me.

I looked over at Annabeth, but she was still motioning to Luke. I turned away from her and to Atlas.

"Have the gods taught you nothing? An immortal does not fight a mere mortal directly. It is beneath our dignity. I will have Luke crush you instead."

"So you're another coward," I taunted.

Atlas' eyes glowed with hatred. With difficulty, he turned his attention to Thalia.

"As for you, daughter of Zeus, it seems Luke was wrong about you."

"I wasn't wrong," Luke managed. He looked terribly weak, and he spoke every word as if it were painful. If I didn't hate his guts so much, I almost would've felt sorry for him. "Thalia, you still can join us. Call the Ophiotaurus. It will come to you. Look!"

He waved his hand, and next to us a pool of water appeared: a pond ringed in black marble, big enough for the Ophiotaurus. I could imagine Bessie in that pool. In fact, the more I thought about it, the more I was sure I could hear Bessie mooing.

_Don't think about him!_ Suddenly Grover's voice was inside my mind—the empathy link. I could feel his emotions. He was on the verge of panic. _I'm losing Bessie. Block the thoughts!_

I tried to make my mind go blank. I tried to think about basketball players, skateboards, the different kinds of candy in my mom's shop. Anything but Bessie.

"Thalia, call the Ophiotaurus," Luke persisted. "And you will be more powerful than the gods."

"Luke..." Her voice was full of pain. "What happened to you?"

"Don't you remember all those times we talked? All those times we cursed the gods? Our fathers have done nothing for us. They have no right to rule the world!"

Thalia shook her head. "Free Annabeth. Let her go."

"If you join me," Luke promised, "it can be like old times. The three of us together."

He motioned to Annabeth. "Fighting for a better world."

I glanced at Thalia and she was looking painfully at Luke. She turned toward me and stared for a couple of seconds. Then, she shook her head.

Luke pleaded. "Please, Thalia, if you don't agree... It's my last chance. He will use the other way if you don't agree. Please."

I don't know what he meant, but the fear in his voice sounded real enough. I believed that Luke was in danger.

His life depended on Thalia's joining his cause. And I was afraid Thalia could change her mind, too.

Luke waved his hand again, and a fire appeared. A bronze brazier, just like the one at camp. A sacrificial flame.

"Thalia," I said. "No."

Behind Luke, the golden sarcophagus began to glow. As it did, I saw images in the mist all around us: black marble walls rising, the ruins becoming whole, a terrible and beautiful palace rising around us, made of fear and shadow.

"We will raise Mount Othrys right here," Luke promised, in a voice so strained it was hardly his. "Once more, it will be stronger and greater than Olympus. Look, Thalia. We are not weak."

He pointed toward the ocean, and my heart fell. Marching up the side of the mountain, from the beach where the Princess Andromeda was docked, was a great army. Dracaenae and Laestrygonians, monsters and half-bloods, hell hounds, harpies, and other things I couldn't even name. The whole ship must've been emptied, because there were hundreds, many more than I'd seen on board last summer. And they were marching toward us. In a few minutes, they would be here.

"This is only a taste of what is to come," Luke said. "Soon we will be ready to storm  
Camp Half-Blood. And after that, Olympus itself. All we need is your help."

For a terrible moment, Thalia hesitated. She gaze at Luke, her eyes full of pain and betrayal. She looked back at me once again. "Why would I destroy Olympus?"

"Remember. Our fathers don't care about-"

"But mine does! He answered to my prayers at the dam," Thalia said. She leveled her spear. "You aren't Luke. I don't know you anymore."

"Yes, you do, Thalia," he pleaded. "Please. Don't make me... Don't make _him_destroy you."

"I don't want to live with just us three. I've got more friends now and I'm not afraid to die fighting," she said.

I glanced down the hill. There was no time. If that army got to the top of the hill, we would be overwhelmed. I met Annabeth's eyes again. She nodded.

I looked at Thalia and Zoe, and I decided it wouldn't be the worst thing in the world to die fighting with friends like this.

"Now," I said.

Together we charged.

Thalia went straight for Luke. The power of her shield was so great that his dragon-women bodyguards fled in a panic, dropping the golden coffin and leaving him alone. But despite his sickly appearance, Luke was still quick with his sword. He snarled like a wild animal and counterattacked. When his sword, Backbiter, met Thalia's shield, a ball of lightning erupted between them, frying the air with yellow tendrils of power.

As for me, I did the stupidest thing in my life, which is saying a lot. I attacked the Titan Lord Atlas.

He laughed as I approached. A huge javelin appeared in his hands. His silk suit melted into full Greek battle armor. "Go on, then!"

"Percy!" Zoe said. "Beware!"

I knew what she was warning me about. Chiron had told me long ago: _Immortals are constrained by ancient rules. But a hero can go anywhere, challenge anyone, as long as he has the nerve._Once I attacked, however, Atlas was free to attack back directly, with all his might.

I swung my sword, and Atlas knocked me aside with the shaft of his javelin. I flew through the air and slammed into a black wall. It wasn't Mist anymore. The palace was rising, brick by brick. It was becoming real.

"Fool!" Atlas screamed gleefully, swatting aside one of Zoe's arrows. "Did you think, simply because you could challenge that petty war god, that you could stand up to me?"

The mention of Ares sent a jolt through me. I shook off my daze and charged again. If I could get to that pool of water, I could double my strength.

The javelins point slashed toward me like a scythe. I raised Riptide, planning to cut off his weapon at the shaft, but my arm felt like lead. My sword suddenly weighed a ton.

And I remembered Ares' warning, spoken on the beach in Los Angeles so long ago: _When you need it most, your sword will fail you._

_Not now!_I pleaded. But it was no good. I tried to dodge, but the javelin caught me in the chest and sent me flying like a rag doll. I slammed into the ground, my head spinning. I looked up and found I was at the feet of Artemis, still straining under the weight of the sky.

"Run, boy," she told me. "You must run!"

Atlas was taking his time coming toward me. My sword was gone. It had skittered away over the edge of the cliff. It might reappear in my pocket- maybe in a few seconds -but it didn't matter. I'd be dead by then. Luke and Thalia were fighting like demons, lightning crackling around them. Annabeth was on the ground, desperately struggling to free her hands.

"Die, little hero," Atlas said.

He raised his javelin to impale me.

"No!" Zoe yelled, and a volley of silver arrows sprouted from the armpit chink in Atlas' armor.

"ARGH!" He bellowed and turned toward his daughter.

I reached down and felt Riptide back in my pocket. I couldn't fight Atlas, even with a sword. And then a chill went down my back. I remembered the words of the prophecy: _The Titan's curse must one withstand._I couldn't hope to beat Atlas. But there was someone else who might stand a chance.

"The sky," I told the goddess. "Give it to me."

"No, boy," Artemis said. Her forehead was beaded with metallic sweat, like quicksilver. "You don't know what you're asking. It will crush you!"

"Annabeth took it!"

"She barely survived. She had the spirit of a true huntress. You will not last so long."

"I'll die anyway," I said, trying not to sound miffed. "Give me the weight of the sky!"

I didn't wait for her answer. I took out Riptide and slashed through her chains. Then I stepped next to her and braced myself on one knee- holding up my hands -and touched the cold, heavy clouds. For a moment, Artemis and I bore the weight together. It was the heaviest thing I'd ever felt, as if I were being crushed under a thousand trucks. I wanted to black out from the pain, but I breathed deeply. _I can do this._

Afterward, I tried many times to explain what it felt like. I couldn't.

Every muscle in my body turned to fire. My bones felt like they were melting. I wanted to scream, but I didn't have the strength to open my mouth. I began to sink, lower and lower to the ground, the sky's weight crushing me.

_Fight back_! Grover's voice said inside my head. _Don't give up_.

I concentrated on breathing. If I could just keep the sky aloft a few more seconds. I thought about Bianca, who had given her life so we could get here. If she could do that, I could hold the sky.

My vision turned fuzzy. Everything was tinged with red. I caught glimpses of the battle, but I wasn't sure if I was seeing clearly. There was Atlas in full battle armor, jabbing with his javelin, laughing insanely as he fought. And Artemis, a blur of silver. She had two wicked hunting knives, each as long as her arm, and she slashed wildly at the Titan, dodging and leaping with unbelievable grace. She seemed to change form as she manoeuvred. She was a tiger, a gazelle, a bear, a falcon. Or perhaps that was just my fevered brain. Zoe shot arrows at her father, aiming for the chinks in his armor. He roared in pain each time one found its mark, but they affected him like bee stings. He just got madder and kept fighting.

Thalia and Luke went spear on sword, lightning still flashing around them. Thalia pressed Luke back with the aura of her shield. Even he was not immune to it. He retreated, wincing and growling in frustration.

"Yield!" Thalia yelled. "You never could beat me, Luke."

He bared his teeth. "We'll see, my old friend."

Sweat poured down my face. My hands were slippery. My shoulders would've screamed with agony if they could. I felt like the vertebrae in my spine were being welded together by a blowtorch.

Atlas advanced, pressing Artemis. She was fast, but his strength was unstoppable. His javelin slammed into the earth where Artemis had been a split second before, and a fissure opened in the rocks. He leaped over it and kept pursuing her. She was leading him back toward me.

_Get ready_, she spoke in my mind.

I was losing the ability to think through the pain. My response was something like _Agggghh-owwwwwwww_.

"You fight well for a girl." Atlas laughed. "But you are no match for me."

He feinted with the tip of his javelin and Artemis dodged. I saw the trick coming. Atlas's javelin swept around and knocked Artemis's legs off the ground. She fell, and Atlas brought up his javelin tip for the kill.

"No!" Zoe screamed. She leaped between her father and Artemis and shot an arrow straight into the Titan's forehead, where it lodged like a unicorn's horn. Atlas bellowed in rage. He swept aside his daughter with the back of his hand, sending her flying into the black rocks.

I wanted to shout her name, run to her aid, but I couldn't speak or move. I couldn't even see where Zoe had landed. Then Atlas turned on Artemis with a look of triumph in his face. Artemis seemed to be wounded. She didn't get up.

"The first blood in a new war," Atlas gloated. And he stabbed downward.

As fast as thought, Artemis grabbed his javelin shaft. It hit the earth right next to her and she pulled backward, using the javelin like a lever, kicking the Titan Lord and sending him flying over her, I saw him coming down on top of me and I realized what would happen. I loosened my grip on the sky, and as Atlas slammed into me I didn't try to hold on. I let myself be pushed out of the way and rolled for all I was worth.

The weight of the sky dropped onto Atlas's back, almost smashing him flat until he managed to get to his knees, struggling to get out from under the crushing weight of the sky. But it was too late.

"Noooooo!" He bellowed so hard it shook the mountain. "Not again!"

Atlas was trapped under his old burden.

I tried to stand and fell back again, dazed from pain. My body felt like it was burning  
up.

Thalia backed Luke to the edge of a cliff, but still they fought on, next to the golden coffin. Thalia had tears in her eyes. Luke had a bloody slash across his chest and his pale face glistened with sweat.

He lunged at Thalia and she slammed him with her shield. Luke's sword spun out of his hands and clattered to the rocks. Thalia put her spear point to his throat.

For a moment, there was silence.

"Well?" Luke said. He tried to hide it, but I could hear fear in his voice.

Thalia trembled with fury.

Behind her, Annabeth came scrambling, finally free from her bonds. Her face was bruised and streaked with dirt. "Don't kill him!"

"He's a traitor," Thalia said. "A traitor!"

In my daze, I realized that Artemis was no longer with me. She had run off toward the black rocks where Zoe had fallen.

"We'll bring Luke back," Annabeth pleaded. "To Olympus. He... he'll be useful."

"Is that what you want, Thalia?" Luke sneered. "To go back to Olympus in triumph? To please your dad?"

Thalia hesitated, and Luke made a desperate grab for her spear.

"No!" Annabeth shouted.

Luke yanked the spear out of Thalia's hand and knocked Aegis off her left arm. Thalia and Annabeth stood there stunned.

"I'm sorry Thalia. Annabeth. But I have to do this."

As Luke raised the spear, I charged him. Despite the curse from Ares, I uncapped Riptide and blocked Luke's attack at Thalia.

He growled and slashed at me. It made a deep cut on my left arm. I bit back the pain and countered one of his attacks. After a couple of strokes, he knocked Riptide out of my hands and brought Thalia's spear over his head. I braced for death, but it never came.

Out of her shock, Thalia ran over and kicked Luke. It knocked the spear off course from my heart and instead, cut my left shoulder even deeper. I fell to the ground. Although it hurt, the pain was nothing like holding the sky. I could manage.

I got up and prepared myself to ram Luke, who was engaged in a fist fight with Thalia. Her arm swung in an uppercut, but Luke blocked it. He was about to hit her temple when I charged.

"Percy! Don't!" Annabeth shouted. But it was too late. I slammed into Luke, making him lose balance and topple of the cliff with terror written on his face.

"Luke!" Annabeth screamed.

She rushed to the cliff's edge. Below us, the army from the _Princess Andromeda _had stopped in amazement. They were staring at Luke's broken form on the rocks. Despite how much I hated him, I couldn't stand to see it. I wanted to believe he was still alive, but that was impossible. The fall was fifty feet at least, and he wasn't moving.

One of the giants looked up and growled, "Kill them!"

Thalia and Annabeth were as stiff as statues, both with tears streaming down their cheeks. I pulled them back as a wave of javelins sailed over our heads. We ran for the rocks, ignoring the curses and threats of Atlas as we passed.

Thalia saw my cut and went over to help me as we ran. She ripped my shirt sleeve and wrapped it around the cut. I smiled at her, "Thanks."

With tears running down her face, she smiled back, "No problem."

I winced as pain shot up my arm from my cut. I needed ambrosia. Despite the cut, I yelled with faltering, "Artemis!"

The goddess looked up, her face almost as grief-stricken as Thalia and Annabeth's. Zoe lay in the goddess' arms. She was breathing. Her eyes were open. But still...

"You are wounded," Artemis said.

"It's all right. Nothing big," I replied. "But what happened?"

"The wound is poisoned," Artemis said.

"Atlas poisoned her?" I asked.

"No," the goddess said. "Not Atlas."

She showed us the wound in Zoe's side. I'd almost forgotten her scrape with Ladon the dragon. The bite was much worse than Zoe had let on. I could barely look at the wound. She had charged into battle against her father with a horrible cut already sapping her strength.

"She said it was nothing," I said quietly.

"The stars," Zoe murmured. "I cannot see them."

"Nectar and ambrosia," I said. "Come on! We have to get her some."

No one moved. Grief hung in the air. I wasn't fair. Zoe couldn't die. First Bianca, and now Zoe. Why must the Fates be so cruel? But no. Zoe couldn't die. She couldn't. Then I remembered the prophecy. _One shall perish by a parent's hand._Though Ladon poisoned her, Atlas delivered the killing blow.

Then I remembered her saying that she wouldn't be lieutenant forever. _She knew. She knew._

I looked up. The army of Kronos was just below the rise. Even Artemis was too shocked to stir. We might've met our doom right there, but then I heard a strange buzzing noise.

Just as the army of monsters came over the hill, a Sopwith Camel swooped down out of the sky.

"Get away from my daughter!" Dr. Chase called down, and his machine guns burst to life, peppering the ground with bullet holes and startling the whole group of monsters into scattering.

"Dad?" yelled Annabeth in disbelief.

"Run!" he called back, his voice growing fainter as the biplane swooped by.

This shook Artemis out of her grief. She stared up at the antique plane, which was now banking around for another strafe.

"A brave man," Artemis said with grudging approval. "Come. We must get Zoe away from here."

She raised her hunting horn to her lips, and it's clear sound echoed down the valleys of Marin. Zoe's eyes were fluttering.

"Hang in there! It'll be alright!" I said, even though I found it hard to believe myself.

The Sopwith Camel swooped down again. A few giants threw javelins, and one flew straight between the wings of the plane, but the machine guns blazed. I realized with amazement that somehow Dr. Chase must've gotten hold of celestial bronze to fashion his bullets. The first row of snake women wailed as the machine gun's volley blew them into sulfurous yellow powder.

"That's… my dad!" Annabeth said in amazement.

We didn't have time to admire his flying. The giants and snake women were already recovering from their surprise. Dr. Chase would be in trouble soon.

Just then, the moonlight brightened, and a silver chariot appeared from the sky, drawn by the most beautiful deer I had ever seen. It landed right next to us.

"Get in," Artemis said.

Annabeth helped me get Thalia on board. Then I helped Artemis with Zoe. We wrapped Zoe in a blanket as Artemis pulled the reins and the chariot sped away from the mountain, straight into the air.

"Like Santa Claus's sleigh," I murmured, still dazed with pain.

Artemis took time to look back at me. "Indeed, young half-blood. And where do you think that legend came from?"

Seeing us safely away, Dr. Chase turned his biplane and followed us like an honor guard. It must have been one of the strangest sights ever, even for the Bay Area: a silver flying chariot pulled by deer, escorted by a Sopwith Camel.

Behind us, the army of Kronos roared in anger as they gathered on the summit of Mount Tamalpais, but the loudest sound was the voice of Atlas, bellowing curses against the gods as he struggled under the weight of the sky.

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**

**Go to The SilverEyed Angel's page to ask about the continuation of the Pertemis story.**


	18. And One Shall Perish By A Parent's Hand

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians' quotes and plot line. I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST and the second one I put up for adoption.**

**The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while I complete this story.**

**Go to The SilverEyed Angel's page to ask about the continuation of the Pertemis story.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**Just in case you were wondering, the length of an update is according to the length of the chapters in the real book.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

Chapter 18: And One Shall Perish By A Parent's Hand

**Thalia's POV**

We landed at Crissy Field after nightfall.

While Artemis and I were tending to Zoe's wounds, I heard a conversation between Dr. Chase and Annabeth.

"Dad! You flew... you shot... oh my gods! That was the most amazing thing I've ever seen!" By her voice I could tell she and her dad were hugging.

"Well, not bad for a middle-aged mortal, I suppose," Dr. Chase responded.

"But the celestial bronze bullets! How did you _get_those?"

"Ah, well. You did leave quite a few half-blood weapons in your room in Virginia, the last time you... left."

I noticed the slight pause in Dr. Chase's words. He was being careful not to say _ran away_.

"I decided to try melting some down to make bullet casings," he continued. "Just a little experiment."

If I hadn't been tending to Zoe's wounds, I probably would've snorted. No wonder Athena, Goddess of Crafts and Wisdom, had taken a liking to him. He was a talented military history professor and scientist.

"Dad..." Annabeth faltered.

"Annabeth, Percy," I interrupted, because Zoe's wounds were, in fact, getting worse. Tears were forming in my eyes. I blinked most of them out, but they kept reforming.

Annabeth and Percy ran over to help, but there wasn't much that they could do. They had no ambrosia or nectar. No regular medicine would help. Percy also had a gash in his left shoulder.

I looked back down at Zoe. She was shivering more, and her Hunter aura was fading.

"Can't you heal her with magic?" Percy asked Artemis. "I mean... you're a goddess."

Artemis looked troubled. "Life is a fragile thing, Percy. If the Fates will the string to be cut, there is little I can do. But I can try."

She tried to set her hand on Zoe's side, but Zoe gripped her wrist. She looked into Artemis' eyes, and some kind of understanding passed between them, like a telepathic connection.

"Have I... served thee well?" Zoe whispered.

"With great honor," Artemis said softly. "The finest of my attendants."

Zoe's face relaxed. "Rest. At last."

"I can try to heal the poison, my brave one."

Percy winced next to me. Either he figured out that Zoe knew that she was going to die all along or he was crushed by the loss of two friends: Bianca and Zoe.

I felt a hand grasp mine. I looked down into the eyes of Zoe Nightshade.

"I am sorry we argued," Zoe said. "We could have been sisters. Or good friends."

"It's my fault," I replied, blinking hard to get the tears out of my eyes. "You were right about Luke, about heroes, men- everything."

Temporarily I forgot about Percy. It was what Zoe said next that reminded me of the humble heart of Percy and why I... I fell in love with him.

"Perhaps not all men," Zoe murmured. She smiled weakly at Percy. "Do you still have the sword, Percy?"

_The only man who is worthy of Anaklusmos_, Zoe thought.

Like with Bianca's death, he was traumatized and could not speak and word. With a couple of tears running down his face, he brought out Riptide and put the pen in Zoe's hand. She grasped it contentedly. "You spoke the truth, Percy Jackson. You are nothing like... like Hercules. I am honored that you carry this sword."

A shudder ran through her body.

"Zoe-" I said.

"Stars," she whispered. "I can see the stars again, my lady."

A tear trickled down Artemis' cheek. "Yes, my brave one. They are beautiful tonight."

"Stars," Zoe repeated. Her eyes fixed on the night sky. And she did not move again.

Annabeth gulped down a sob, and her father put his hands on her shoulders. I lowered my head and Percy wrapped an arm around me, holding me close to him. I looked back up at Artemis. We watched as she cupped her hand above Zoe's mouth and spoke a few words in Ancient Greek. A silvery wisp of smoke exhaled from Zoe's lips and was caught in the hand of the goddess. Zoe's body shimmered and disappeared.

Artemis stood, said a blessing, breathed into her cupped hand and released the silver dust to the sky. It flew up, sparkling, and vanished.

For a moment we didn't see anything different. Then Annabeth gasped. Looking up in the sky, I saw that the stars were brighter now. They made a new pattern that was never there before. It was a gleaming constellation that looked like a girl with a bow, running across the sky.

"Let the world honor you, my Huntress," Artemis said. "Live forever in the stars."

It wasn't easy saying our goodbyes. The thunder and lightning were still boiling over Mount Tamalpais in the north. Artemis was so upset she flickered with silver light. This made Percy, who was still holding onto me, nervous. I figured he thought if she suddenly lost control and appeared in her fully divine form, we would disintegrate by looking at her.

"I must go to Olympus immediately," Artemis said. "I will not be able to take you, but I will send help."

The goddess set her hand on Annabeth's shoulder and met her gaze. After a few seconds of silence, Artemis smiled. "You are brave beyond measure, my girl. You will do what is right."

Then, she looked quizzically at me. I wasn't actually looking at her, but I could feel her gaze upon me. I felt Percy's arm release me and it made me a little sad. That was when I decided to look up.

_Thalia, daughter of Zeus_, she said in my head. _Do you really feel that way about men? The way you said to Zoe?_

_Yes and no, Lady Artemis. Most men are bad, but I... I like Percy. And Zoe approves of him too_, I replied back.

_She does indeed. I feel bad though as I could use a Hunter as great as you_, she said.

_I don't know_, I quickly said. _I don't know if he likes me or not. If he doesn't... well..._

_I will let you ponder on this. You can make your decision at the solstice_, Artemis said.

Then, Artemis turned to Percy. "You did well. For a man."

Percy opened his mouth, probably to protest, but stood down. "She didn't call me a boy," Percy muttered quietly enough so that only I heard him.

"And here." Artemis tossed an ambrosia square at him. "I thank you for helping Zoe through this quest."

Percy stood there staring wide-eyed at the man-hating goddess as she mounted her chariot. It began to glow and I helped Percy avert his eyes. There was a flash of silver, and the goddess was gone.

Percy started munching on his ambrosia square.

"Well," Dr. Chase sighed. "She was impressive; though I must say I still prefer Athena."

Annabeth turned toward him. "Dad, I... I'm sorry that-"

"Shh." He hugged her. "Do what you must, my dear. I know this isn't easy for you."

His voice was a little shaky, but he gave Annabeth a brave smile.

Then I heard the whoosh of large wings. Three pegasi descended through the fog: two white winged horses and one pure black one.

"Blackjack!" Percy called.

The pure black pegasus neighed.

"It was rough," Percy said.

Blackjack neighed. After, the other two snuffled the ground, snorting. Blackjack turned toward Dr. Chase, Annabeth and I. He (I'm assuming it is a he) neighed.

"Nah," Percy said aloud. "These are my friends. We need to get to Olympus pretty fast."

Blackjack snorted.

"No, Dr. Chase is not going," Percy assured his pegasus.

The professor was staring open mouthed at the pegasi.

"Fascinating," he said. "Such maneuverability! How does the wingspan compensate for the weight of the horse's body, I wonder?"

Blackjack cocked his head. I couldn't understand his thoughts, but I guarantee that they were thoughts of confusion.

"Why, if the British had these pegasi in the cavalry charges on the Crimea," Dr. Chase said, "the charge of the light brigade-"

"Dad!" Annabeth interrupted.

Dr. Chase blinked. He looked at his daughter and managed a smile. "I'm sorry, my dear, I know you must go."

He gave her one last awkward, well-meaning hug. As she turned to climb aboard one of the pegasi, Dr. Chase called, "Annabeth. I know… I know San Francisco is a dangerous place for you. But please remember, you always have a home with us. We will keep you safe."

Annabeth didn't answer, but her eyes were red as she turned away. Dr. Chase started to say more, then apparently thought better of it. He raised his hand in a sad farewell and trudged away across the dark field.

Annabeth, Percy and I mounted our pegasi. Together we soared over the bay and flew toward the eastern hills. Soon San Francisco was only a glittering crescent behind us, with an occasional flicker of lightning in the north.

**Percy's POV**

Thalia was so exhausted she fell asleep on Porkpie's back. I knew she had to be really tired to sleep in the air, despite her fear of heights, but she didn't have much to worry about. Her pegasus flew with ease, adjusting himself every once in awhile so Thalia stayed safely on his back.

Annabeth and I flew along side by side.

"You dad seems cool," I told her.

It was too dark to see her expression. She looked back, even though California was far behind us now.

"I guess so," she said. "We've been arguing for so many years."

"Yeah, you said."

"You think I was lying about that?" It sounded like a challenge, but a pretty half hearted one, like she was asking it of herself.

"I didn't say you were lying. It's just… he seems okay. Your stepmom, too. Maybe they've, uh, gotten cooler since you saw them last."

She hesitated. "They're still in San Francisco, Percy. I can't live so far from camp."

I didn't want to ask my next question. I was scared to know the answer. But I asked it anyway. "So what are you going to do now?"

We flew over a town, an island of lights in the middle of the dark. It whisked by so fast we might've been in an airplane.

"Probably the Hunters," she admitted. "But thank you for rescuing me."

"Hey, no big deal. We're friends."

"You didn't believe I was dead?"

"Never."

She hesitated. "Neither is Luke, you know. I mean… he isn't dead."

I stared at her. I didn't know if she was cracking under the stress or what. "Annabeth, that fall was pretty bad. There's no way—"

"He isn't dead," she insisted. "I know it. The same way you knew about me."

I scowled and looked up at the sky, at Zoe's constellation.

The towns were zipping by faster now, islands of light thicker together, until the whole landscape below was a glittering carpet. Dawn was close. The eastern sky was turning gray. And up ahead, a huge white-and-yellow glow spread out before us—the lights of New York.

_How's that for speedy, loss?_ Blackjack bragged. _We get extra hay for breakfast or what?_

"You're the man, Blackjack," I told him. "Er, the horse, I mean."

"You don't believe me about Luke," Annabeth said, "but we'll see him again. He's in trouble, Percy. He's under Kronos' spell."

I scowled once again. The thought about Luke being alive made me furious. Luke couldn't be alive. It wouldn't be fair to those who died on this quest. Bianca didn't deserve to die. Zoe didn't either. Yet Luke, the traitor, lived.

"I thought you were _not_supposed to think about boys, being a Hunter and all that," I said trying to mask my anger.

Annabeth played with her camp necklace. She also stayed silent.

"There it is," a voice said behind me. It was Thalia; she'd woken up. She was pointing toward Manhattan, which was quickly zooming into view. "It's started."

"What's started?" I asked.

Then I looked where she was pointing. High above the Empire State Building, Olympus was its own island of light, a floating mountain ablaze with torches and braziers, white marble palaces gleaming in the early morning air.

"The winter solstice," Thalia said. "The Council of the Gods."

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**

**Go to The SilverEyed Angel's page to ask about the continuation of the Pertemis story.**


	19. My First Kiss

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians' quotes and plot line. I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST and the second one I put up for adoption.**

**The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while I complete this story.**

**Go to The SilverEyed Angel's page to ask about the continuation of the Pertemis story.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**Just in case you were wondering, the length of an update is according to the length of the chapters in the real book.**

**Apologies if there are any grammar mistakes out there that make the story unclear.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

Chapter 19: My First Kiss

**Percy's POV**

Flying was bad enough for a son of Poseidon, but flying straight up to Zeus' palace, with thunder and lightning swirling around it, was even worse.

We circled over midtown Manhattan, making one complete orbit around Mount Olympus. I'd only been there once before, traveling by elevator up to the secret six hundredth floor of the Empire State Building. This time, if it was possible, Olympus amazed me even more.

In the early-morning darkness, torches and fires made the mountainside palaces glow twenty different colors, from blood red to indigo. Apparently no one ever slept on Olympus. The twisting streets were full of demigods and nature spirits and minor godlings bustling about, riding chariots or sedan chairs carried by Cyclopes. Winter didn't seem to exist here. I caught the scent of the gardens in full bloom, jasmine and roses and even sweeter things I couldn't name. Music drifted up from many windows, the soft sounds of lyres and reed pipes.

Towering at the peak of the mountain was the greatest palace of all, the glowing white hall of the gods.

Our pegasi set us down in the outer courtyard, in front of huge silver gates. Before I could even think to knock, the gates opened by themselves.

_Good luck, boss_, Blackjack said.

"Yeah." I didn't know why, but I had a sense of doom. I'd never seen all the gods together. I knew any one of them could blast me to dust, and a few of them would like to.

_Hey, if ya don't come back, can I have your cabin for my stable?_

I looked at the pegasus.

_Just a thought_, he said. _Sorry._

Blackjack and his friends flew off, leaving Thalia, Annabeth and me alone. For a minute we stood there regarding the palace, the way we'd stood together in front of Westover Hall, what seemed like a million years ago.

And then, side by side, we walked into the throne room.

**Annabeth's POV**

There were twelve enormous thrones that made a U around a central hearth, just like the placement of the cabins at camp. The ceiling above glittered with constellations- even the newest one, Zoe the Huntress, making her way across the heavens with her bow drawn.

I couldn't help, but drool at the marvelous architecture. I looked back at the twelve thrones.

All of the seats were occupied. Each god and goddess was about fifteen feet tall. When all twelve of them turned their eyes on us, I got a sense of panic. Monsters may be scary, but facing all twelve Olympians was _much_scarier.

"Welcome, heroes," Artemis said.

"Mooo!"

Thalia, Percy and I noticed the Ophiotaurus and Grover.

A sphere of water was hovering in the center of the room, next to the hearth fire. The Ophiotaurus was swimming happily around, swishing his serpent tail and poking his heads out the sides and bottom of the sphere. He seemed to be enjoying the novelty of swimming in a magic bubble. Grover was kneeling at Zeus' throne, as if he'd just been giving a report, but when he saw us, he cried, "You made it!"

_Just like Westover Hall_, I thought.

He started to run toward us, then remembered he was turning his back on Zeus, and looked for permission.

"Go on," Zeus said. But he wasn't really paying attention to Grover. The king of the gods was staring intently at Thalia.

Grover trotted over. None of the gods spoke. Every clop of Grover's hooves echoed on the marble floor. The Ophiotaurus splashed in his bubble of water. The hearth fire crackled.

I glanced at my mother, Athena. This was the first time I'd ever seen my mother. She was wearing an elegant white dress and was staring right at me. Although the stare was neutral, I could sense that she was relieved to have her daughter back from enemy hands. Unlike the children of Athena, she had black hair rather than blonde. But the grey eyes were all the same.

Grover gave me and Thalia big hugs. Then he grasped Percy's arms. "Percy, Bessie and I made it! But you have to convince them! They can't do it!"

"Do what?" Percy asked.

"Heroes," Artemis called.

The goddess slid down from her throne and turned to human size, a young auburn-haired girl, perfectly at ease in the midst of the giant Olympians. She walked toward us, her silver robes shimmering. There was no emotion in her face, but I could feel a sadness emitting from her. _That's weird. Since when can I read Artemis' emotions?_

"The Council has been informed of your deeds," Artemis told us. "They know that Mount Othrys is rising in the West. They know of Atlas' attempt for freedom, and the gathering armies of Kronos. We have voted to act."

There was some mumbling and shuffling among the gods, as if they weren't happy with this plan, but nobody protested.

"At my Lord Zeus's command," Artemis said, "my brother Apollo and I shall hunt the most powerful monsters, seeking to strike them down before they can join the Titans' cause. Lady Athena shall personally check on the other Titans to make sure they do not escape their various prisons. Lord Poseidon has been given permission to unleash his full fury on the cruise ship Princess Andromeda and send it to the bottom of the sea. And as for you, my heroes…"

She turned to face the other immortals. "These half-bloods have done Olympus a great service. Would any here deny that?"

She looked around at the assembled gods, meeting their faces individually. Zeus in his dark pin-striped suit, his black beard neatly trimmed, and his eyes sparking with energy. Next to him sat a beautiful woman with silver hair braided over one shoulder and a dress that shimmered colors like peacock feathers. The Lady Hera.

On Zeus's right, Percy's father Poseidon. He wore more casual looking clothing: beach clothing, a Hawaiian shirt, and sandals. He had a weathered, suntanned face with a dark beard and deep green eyes. Next to him, a huge lump of a man with a leg in a steel brace, a misshapen head, and a wild brown beard, fire flickering through his whiskers. The Lord of the Forges, Hephaestus.

Hermes winked at Percy. He was wearing a business suit today, checking messages on his caduceus mobile phone. Apollo leaned back in his golden throne with his shades on. He had iPod headphones on, so I wasn't sure he was even listening, but he gave us a thumbs-up. Dionysus looked bored, twirling a grape vine between his fingers. And Ares, well, he sat on his chrome-and-leather throne, glowering at Percy while he sharpened a knife.

On the ladies' side of the throne room, a dark-haired goddess in green robes sat next to Hera on a throne woven of apple-tree branches. Demeter, Goddess of the Harvest. Next to her sat my mother, Athena. Then there was Aphrodite, who smiled at Percy and made him blush in spite of myself.

All the Olympians in one place. So much power in this room it was a miracle the whole  
palace didn't blow apart... well, except for magic.

"I gotta say"- Apollo broke the silence -"these kids did okay." He cleared his throat and began to recite: "_Heroes win laurels-_"

"Um, yes, first class," Hermes interrupted, like he was anxious to avoid Apollo's poetry. "All in favor of not disintegrating them?"

"Why don't they like Apollo's poetry. He _is_the god of poetry, right?" I whispered to Thalia and Percy.

They shared a look. "You don't want to know how bad he is a poetry."

They looked up. When I did, I saw Demeter and Aphrodite's hands up.

"Wait just a minute," Ares growled. He pointed at Thalia and Percy. "These two are dangerous. It'd be much safer, while we've got them here-"

"Ares," Poseidon interrupted, "they are worthy heroes. We will not blast my son to bits."

"Nor my daughter," Zeus grumbled. "She has done well."

Thalia blushed. She studied to floor. I know how she felt. I never spoke to Athena before except for the dire situations I was in when I ran from home. Then, I was never given a compliment. Just advice.

Then my mother cleared her throat and sat forward. "I am proud of my daughter as well. But there is a security risk here with the other two."

"Mother!" I said. "How can you-"

She cut me off with a calm but firm look. "It is unfortunate that my father, Zeus, and my uncle, Poseidon, chose to break their oath not to have more children. Only Hades kept his word, a fact that I find ironic. As we know from the Great Prophecy, children of the three elder gods... such as Thalia and Percy... are dangerous. As thick-headed as he is, Ares has a point."

"Right!" Ares said. "Hey, wait a minute. Who you callin'—"

He started to get up, but a grape vine grew around his waist like a seat belt and pulled him back down.

"Oh, please, Ares," Dionysus sighed. "Save the fighting for later."

Ares cursed and ripped away the vine. "You're one to talk, you old drunk. You seriously want to protect these brats?"

Dionysus gazed down at us wearily. "I have no love for them. Athena, do you truly think it safest to destroy them?"

"I do not pass judgment," Athena said. "I only point out the risk. What we do, the Council must decide."

"I will not have them punished," Artemis said. "I will have them rewarded. If we destroy heroes who do us a great favor, then we are no better than the Titans. If this is Olympian justice, I will have none of it."

"Calm down, sis," Apollo said. "Jeez, you need to lighten up."

"Don't call me sis! I will reward them."

"Well," Zeus grumbled. "Perhaps. But the monster at least must be destroyed. We have agreement on that?"

A lot of nodding heads.

The poor Ophiotaurus, I thought.

Next to me, Percy exclaimed, "Bessie? You want to destroy Bessie?"

"Mooooooo!" the Ophiotaurus protested.

Poseidon frowned. "You have named the Ophiotaurus Bessie?"

"Dad," I said, "he's just a sea creature. A really _nice_sea creature. You can't destroy him."

Poseidon shifted uncomfortably. "Percy, the monster's power is considerable. If the Titans were to steal it, or-"

"You can't," he insisted. He looked Zeus in the eye. Percy should've been cowering under Zeus' gaze, but he started at him right in the eye. "Controlling the prophecies never works. Isn't that true? Besides, Bess- the Ophiotaurus is innocent. Killing something like that is wrong. It's just as wrong as... as Kronos eating his children, just because of something they _might_do. It's wrong!"

Zeus seemed to consider this. His eyes drifted to his daughter Thalia. "And what of the risk? Kronos know full well, if one of you were to sacrifice the beast's entrails, you would have the power to destroy us. Do you think we can let that possibility remain?"

"You have to trust them," I spoke up. "Sir, you have to trust them."

Zeus scowled, "Trust a hero?"

"Annabeth is right," Artemis said. "Which is why I must first make a reward. My faithful companion, Zoe Nightshade, has passed into the stars. I must have a new lieutenant. And I intend to choose one. But first, Father Zeus, I must speak to you privately. Athena as well."

Zeus beckoned Artemis and Athena forward. Zeus and Athena leaned down as Artemis spoke quietly to them.

I tried looking anywhere besides Percy. _What is his reaction going to be?_After a couple of seconds, I gave in and looked at Percy. He smiled at me.

"Do what you have to do," Percy repeated my father's words.

I glanced past Percy and at Thalia. She looked a little nervous, as if she was expecting... Oh my gods, she was going to be given the opportunity to become a Hunter.

"I shall have two co-lieutenants," she announced. "If they will accept it. But"- she turned her gaze to Thalia -"you do not have to accept."

"Two," Percy squeaked quietly. His gaze passed onto Thalia. I couldn't help but feel bad for Percy. It was kind of obvious that he had a crush on Thalia ever since she came out of the tree.

"Thalia, daughter of Zeus. Annabeth, daughter of Athena," Artemis said. "Will you join the Hunt?"

I glanced at Percy one more time. Although he was shocked that Thalia was given the opportunity, he nodded at me, filling me with hope. Or maybe that was Hestia.

"I will," I said firmly.

My mother nodded at me, probably glad I didn't have to hang out with Percy anymore.

I knelt before Artemis and began the words of the oath to become a Hunter. "I pledge myself to the goddess Artemis. I turn my back on the company of men..."

Afterward, I did something that stunned Percy. I went over to him, smiled, and in front of the whole assembly, I gave him a big hug.

When I pulled away and gripped his shoulders, he said, "Um... aren't you supposed to not do that anymore? Hug boys, I mean?"

"I'm honoring a friend, and brother," I corrected. "I _must_join the Hunt, Percy. What Luke did was horrible."

He whispered to me, "But you were worried about his safety on the mountain."

I whispered back. "I re-thought about that while we were flying on the pegasi."

I hugged Grover, who looked ready to pass out, like somebody had just given him an all-you-can-eat enchilada coupon. I also hugged Thalia.

After, I stood by Artemis' side.

**Percy's POV**

Thalia was offered to be a Hunter, a co-lieutenant with Annabeth.

After Annabeth went to stand by Artemis' side, Artemis called, "Thalia. Have you made your decision?"

I looked nervously at Thalia, probably looking like I was about to puke. She glanced at me one more time before walking to Artemis and kneeling in front of her. I felt like I was going to break down as much as I did when Zoe and Bianca died.

Thalia spoke after ten seconds of kneeling. "Lady Artemis. I am honored to have been given the chance to become a co-lieutenant with Annabeth, but Camp Half-Blood is my home."

I stared wide-eyed at Thalia and opened and closed my mouth like a fish.

Zeus rose, his eyes full of concern, "My daughter, consider well-"

"Father," she said. "I am not turning sixteen tomorrow. I am turning fourteen. I am not the child of the prophecy unless Percy dies."

Zeus sat back down, giving in. Artemis said, "Now for the Ophiotaurus."

"These children are still dangerous," Dionysus warned. "The beast is a temptation to great power"- Thalia put her head down in shame -"Even if we spare the boy and the girl-"

"No." I looked around at all the gods. "Please. Keep the Ophiotaurus safe. My dad can hide him under the sea somewhere, or keep him in an aquarium here in Olympus. But you have to protect him."

"And why should we trust you?" rumbled Hephaestus.

"I'm only fourteen," I said. "If this prophecy is about me, that's two more years."

"Two years for Kronos to deceive you," Athena said. "Much can change in two years, my young hero."

My father stood. "I will not have a sea creature destroyed, if I can help it. And I _can_help it."

He held out his hand, and a trident appeared in it: a twenty foot long bronze shaft with three spear tips the shimmered with blue, water light. Poseidon looked down at me, and then at Thalia. "I will vouch for the boy _and_the girl. I also vouch for the safety of the Ophiotaurus."

Most of the gods' jaws seemed to drop. So did mine. _Did my father just vouch for Thalia? The daughter of his brother?_

After the temporary stun, Zeus stood suddenly. "You won't take it under the sea! I won't have that kind of bargaining chip in your possession."

"Brother, please," Poseidon sighed.

Zeus' lightning bolt appeared in his hand, a shaft of electricity that filled the whole room with the smell of ozone.

"Fine," Poseidon said. "I will build an aquarium for the creature here. Hephaestus can help me. The creature will be safe. We shall protect it with all our powers. The boy and girl will not betray us. I vouch for this on my honor."

Zeus thought about this. "All in favor?"

To my surprise, a lot of hands went up. Dionysus abstained. So did Ares and Athena. But everybody else…

"We have a majority," Zeus decreed. "And so, since we will not be destroying these heroes… I imagine we should honor them. Let the triumph celebration begin!"

There are parties, and then there are huge, major, blowout parties. And then there are Olympian parties. If you ever get a choice, go for the Olympian.

The Nine Muses cranked up the tunes, and I realized the music was whatever you wanted it to be: the gods could listen to classical and the younger demigods heard hip-hop or whatever, and it was all the same sound track. No arguments. No fights to change the radio station. Just requests to crank it up.

Dionysus went around growing refreshment stands out of the ground, and a beautiful woman walked with him arm in arm—his wife, Ariadne. Dionysus looked happy for the first time. Nectar and ambrosia overflowed from golden fountains, and platters of mortal snack food crowded the banquet tables. Golden goblets filled with whatever drink you wanted. Grover trotted around with a full plate of tin cans and enchiladas, and his goblet was full of double-espresso latte, which he kept muttering over like an incantation: "Pan! Pan!"

Gods kept coming over to congratulate me. Thankfully, they had reduced themselves to human size, so they didn't accidentally trample party goers under their feet. Hermes started chatting with me, and he was so cheerful I hated to tell him what had happened to his favorite son, Luke, but before I could even get up the courage, Hermes got a call on his caduceus and walked away.

Apollo told me I could drive his sun chariot any time, and if I ever wanted archery lessons—

"Thanks," I told him. "But seriously, I'm no good at archery."

"Ah, nonsense," he said. "Target practice from the chariot as we fly over the U.S.? Best fun there is!"

I made some excuses and wove through the crowds that were dancing in the palace  
courtyards. I was looking for Thalia. I found her talking to her father.

"You have done and will do well, my daughter," Zeus said.

Thalia bowed and thanked her father. Then she caught sight of me and walked over. When she got next to me, I opened my mouth to say something, but a man's voice behind me interrupted,

"You both won't let me down, I hope."

I turned and found Poseidon smiling at me.

"Lord Poseidon," Thalia said.

"Dad... hi," I said.

"Hello, Percy, Thalia. You guys have done well."

His praise made me uneasy. I mean, it felt good, but I knew just how much he'd put himself on the line, vouching for both Thalia and me. It would've been a lot easier to let the others disintegrate me.

"We won't let you down," I promised.

He nodded. I had trouble reading gods' emotions, but I wondered if he had some doubts.

"Your friend Luke-"

"He's not my friend," I blurted out. Then I realized it was probably rude to interrupt. "Sorry."

"Your _former_friend Luke," Poseidon corrected. "He once promised things like that. He was Hermes' pride and joy. Just bear that in mind, Percy. Even the bravest can fall."

"Luke fell pretty hard," I agreed. "He's dead."

Poseidon shook his head. "No, Percy. He is not."

I stared at him as Thalia said, "What?"

"I believe Annabeth told you this. Luke still lives. I have seen it. His boat sails from San Francisco with the remains of Kronos even now. He will retreat and regroup before assaulting you again. I will do my best to destroy his boat with storms, but he is making alliances with my enemies, the older spirits of the ocean. They will fight to protect him."

"How can he be alive?" I said. "That fall should've killed him!"

Poseidon looked troubled. "I don't know, Percy, but beware of him. He is more dangerous than ever. And the golden coffin is still with him, still growing in strength."

"What about Atlas?" I said. "What's to prevent him from escaping again? Couldn't he just force some giant or something to take the sky for him?"

My father snorted in derision. "If it were so easy, he would have escaped long ago. No, my son. The curse of the sky can only be forced upon a Titan, one of the children of Gaia and Ouranos. Anyone else must choose to take the burden of their own free will. Only a hero, someone with strength, a true heart, and great courage, would do such a thing. No one in Kronos' army would dare try to bear that weight, even upon pain of death."

"Luke did it," I said. "He let Atlas go. Then he tricked Annabeth into saving him and used her to convince Artemis to take the sky."

"Yes," Poseidon said. "Luke is… an interesting case."

I think he wanted to say more, but just then, Bessie started mooing from across the courtyard. Some demigods were playing with his water sphere, joyously pushing it back and  
forth over the top of the crowd,

"I'd better take care of that," Poseidon grumbled. "We can't have the Ophiotaurus tossed around like a beach ball. Be good, my son. We may not speak again for some time."

And just like that he was gone.

I was about to speak to Thalia when another voice spoke. "Your father takes a great risk, you know."

I found myself face-to-face with a grey-eyed woman who looked so much like Annabeth I almost called her that.

"Athena." I tried not to sound resentful, after the way she'd written me off in the council, but I guess I didn't hid it very well.

She smiled dryly. "Do not judge me too harshly, half-blood. Wise counsel is not always popular, but I spoke the truth. You two are dangerous."

"You never take risks?"

She nodded. "I concede the point. You may perhaps be useful. And yet... your fatal flaw may destroy us as well as yourself."

My heart crept into my throat. A year ago, Annabeth and I had had a talk about fatal flaws. Every hero had one. Hers, she said, was pride. She believed she could do anything… like holding up the world, for instance. Or saving Luke. But I didn't really know what mine was.

"For example, you saw Thalia's at the pier. Her fatal flaw is power. If given the opportunity for power, she can become disoriented and eventually give in. Kronos knows your flaw, even if you do not. He knows how to study his enemies. Think, Percy. How has he manipulated you? First, your mother was taken from you. Then your best friend, Grover. Now my daughter, Annabeth." She paused, disapproving. "In each case, your loved ones have been used to lure you into Kronos' traps. Your fatal flaw is personal loyalty, Percy. You do not know when it is time to cut your losses. To save a friend, you would sacrifice the world. In a hero of the prophecy, that is very, very dangerous."

I balled my fists. "That's not a flaw. Just because I want to help my friends-"

"The most dangerous flaws are those which are good in moderation," she said. "Evil is easy to fight. Lack of wisdom.. that is very hard indeed."

I wanted to argue, but I found I couldn't. Athena was pretty darn smart.

"I hope the Council's decisions prove wise," Athena said. "But I will be watching, Percy Jackson. Should you begin to waver in your loyalties..."

She fixed me with her cold grey stare, and I realized what a terrible enemy Athena would make, ten times worse than Ares or Dionysus or maybe even my father. Athena would never give up. She would never do something rash or stupid just because she hated you, and if she made a plan to destroy you, it would not fail.

Athena turned to Thalia. "I believe that you should watch over Percy for me. I would be grateful for that. But also beware of your own flaw. Should you be tempted again..."

Athena walked away to let Thalia think about it. She strode through the crowd, which parted before her as if she were carrying Aegis.

"Athena is pretty darn smart," Thalia grumbled.

I laughed. Annabeth ran up to us. "Thalia! Percy!"

"Hey Annabeth," we replied.

"I wanted to come say goodbye. I'll see you in the future, but I must go now."

She hugged Thalia and touched the grey streak in my hair. "Symbolism of friendship," Annabeth said. I nodded and hugged her.

We parted to let Annabeth get back to the Hunters. When she was gone, Thalia asked me, "How do you think the next two years of our lives are going to be?"

"Like, Hades," I responded. "But we've gotta enjoy ourselves."

She nodded. For a minute, we stood there gazing upon the dancing in the streets.

"So..." I said.

"So..." Thalia replied.

"You know," I started nervously. "We got interrupted at Westover and... I think I owe you a dance."

She stared at me for a few seconds before smiling. "All right, Kelp Head."

"Thals." I took her hand a we started dancing. I don't know what everybody else heard, but as I stared into the electrifying blue eyes of Thalia, it sounded like a slow dance: a little sad, but maybe a little hopeful, too.

After a minute, I asked, "So, Thalia. What's your last name?"

Thalia's smile faded and I immediately regretted it. "You're getting it, Kelp Head."

She chased me around the party and I admit, I'm really slow at running because she tackled me after five seconds of running. We rolled down a hill and stopped out of sight of the party.

When we stopped rolling, Thalia was on top of me, pinning my arms to my side. I couldn't help but stare into her eyes, like I had done multiple times before. A girly voice in the back of my head squealed_ I knew it! She likes you too!_

Get out of my head Aphrodite, I thought.

I looked up and saw Thalia's gaze on mine. She looked like she was in a trance.

"Grace," she whispered. "My last name is Grace."

And she leaned in toward me. As a cheer erupted from the party, I had my first kiss, with Thalia Grace.

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**

**Go to The SilverEyed Angel's page to ask about the continuation of the Pertemis story.**


	20. Nico di Angelo Goes Bye-Bye

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians' quotes and plot line. I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST and the second one I put up for adoption.**

**The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while I complete this story.**

**Go to The SilverEyed Angel's page to ask about the continuation of the Pertemis story.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**Just in case you were wondering, the length of an update is according to the length of the chapters in the real book.**

**Apologies if there are any grammar mistakes out there that make the story unclear.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**A HEADS UP: This is not the last chapter. There will be one or two more.**

Chapter 20: Nico di Angelo Goes Bye-Bye

**Thalia's POV**

Before leaving Olympus, Percy decided to make a few calls. It wasn't easy, but we finally found a quiet fountain in a corner garden and sent an Iris-message to Percy's brother, Tyson, under the sea. Percy told Tyson about our adventures, and Bessie- he wanted to hear every detail about the cute baby cow serpent -and Percy assured Tyson that Annabeth was safe. Then, Percy got around to explaining how the shield Tyson made for him last summer had been damaged in the manticore attack.

I stayed in the background watching Percy and his brother talk. Unlike that horrible cyclops that Annabeth, Luke and I ran into in Brooklyn, Tyson seemed really sweet.

As Percy and Tyson talked about how Tyson was going to visit camp next summer and fix the shield and about war preparations between Lord Poseidon and the old sea gods, I thought about the kiss with Percy.

It was amazing although it was our first kiss. I admit that I've never kissed anybody before, but that's because I never let them. With Luke, he's only kissed me on the cheek, nothing more.

Percy was someone different. His sea-green eyes were mesmerizing as if they were trying to catch you and his raven black hair that was like a mop on top of his head. Unlike what most people thought, I believe that Percy's much more handsome than Luke.

I noticed that the Iris-message and Tyson was cut off.

"He had to get back to work?" I asked.

Percy nodded. "Come here. We need to talk to my mom."

I walked over slowly, nervous about his reaction to our kiss earlier. He didn't seem to mind, in fact, it seemed that he was acting as if we kissed every day. But I could see through it. I knew he was nervous.

He dug out his last golden drachma and made one more Iris-message.

"Sally Jackson," I said. "Upper East Side, Manhattan."

The mist shimmered, and there was his mom at the kitchen table, laughing and holding hands with some guy I had never seen before.

"Who's that?" I whispered to Percy.

"Mr. Blowfish," he replied.

"Blowfish?"

"Shh." He raised his hand as was about to cut the connection when his mom saw us.

Her eyes got wide. She let go of Mr. Blowfish's hand real quick. "Oh, Paul! You know what? I left my writing journal in the living room. Would you mind getting it for me?"

"Sure, Sally. No problem."

He left the room, and instantly Percy's mom leaned toward the Iris-message. "Percy! Thalia! Are you guys all right?"

"I'm, uh, fine. How's that writing seminar going?"

She pursed her lips. "It's fine. But that's not important. Tell me what's happened!" We filled her in as quickly as we could. She sighed with relief when she heard that Annabeth was safe.

"I knew you could do it!" she said. "I'm so proud."

"Yeah, well, I'd better let you get back to your homework."

"Percy, I… Paul and I—"

"Mom, are you happy?" Percy asked.

The question seemed to take her by surprise. And it took me by surprise as well. She thought for a moment. "Yes. I really am, Percy. Being around him makes me happy."

"Then it's cool. Seriously. Don't worry about me," Percy said.

"You promise not to call him Mr. Blowfish?" she asked.

I turned to Percy. "So his name isn't Mr. Blowfish?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "Well... it's really Mr. Blofis, but it sounds like blowfish. I swear!" He turned back to the Iris-message. "And to answer your question, mom, maybe not to his face, anyway."

"Sally?" Mr. Blofis called from our living room. "You need the green binder or the red one?"

"I'd better go," she told us. "See you for Christmas, Percy?"

"Are you putting blue candy in my stocking?"

She smiled. "If you're not too old for that."

"I'm never too old for candy."

"I'll see you then."

"Oh," Percy said, as if remembering something. "Can Thalia come too?"

"Of course," Ms. Jackson replied.

She waved her hand across the mist and her image disappeared. Percy turned to me. "You're right. My mom really is pretty cool."

I smiled. "Did you really mean what you said about your mom being happy."

He nodded. "I've seen how mean people can be to each other, like Hercules to Zoe, like Luke was to you. But seeing my mom laughing and smiling, after all the years she'd suffered with my nasty ex-stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, I can't help but feel happy for her."

"What happened to Gabe anyway?" I asked, my curiosity getting the better of me.

"You heard Grover, Annabeth and I killed Medusa a year and a half ago, right?"

I nodded.

"And even when the head is cut off, when looking at it, it can still petrify you, right?"

I nodded some more, a smile creeping onto my face. "The Poker Player, right?" I asked.

He nodded and the story came rushing back into my mind. I had forgot about it, but I remember Annabeth telling me the story of Gabe and his horrifying personality.

"Your mom deserves to be happy," I said.

"Yup."

"Percy."

"Yes."

"About...the...um..."

"Kiss," he finished a little awkwardly.

"I was thinking-"

"Me too. I was going to ask-"

Grover interrupted us. "Hey, guys. Argus is down below. Let's go back to camp."

**Percy's POV**

Compared to Mount Olympus, Manhattan was quiet. Friday before Christmas, but it was early in the morning, and hardly anyone was on Fifth Avenue. Argus, the many-eyed security chief, picked up Thalia, Grover, and me at the Empire State Building and ferried us back to camp through a light snowstorm. The Long Island Expressway was almost deserted.

As we trudged back up Half-Blood Hill to the pine tree where the Golden Fleece glittered, I half expected to see Annabeth there, waiting for us. But she wasn't. She was long gone with Artemis and the rest of the Hunters, off on their next adventure.

Chiron greeted us at the Big House with hot chocolate and toasted cheese sandwiches. Grover went off with his satyr friends to spread the word about our strange encounter with the magic of Pan. Within an hour, the satyrs were all running around agitated, asking where the nearest espresso bar was.

Thalia and I sat with Chiron and some of the other senior campers- Beckendorf, Silena Beauregard, and the Stoll brothers. Even Clarisse from the Ares cabin was there, back from her secretive scouting mission. I knew she must've had a difficult quest, because she didn't even try to pulverize me. She had a new scar on her chin, and her dirty blonde hair had been cut short and ragged, like someone had attacked it with a pair of safety scissors.

"I got news," she mumbled uneasily. "_Bad_news."

"I'll fill you in later," Chiron said with forced cheerfulness. "The important thing is you have prevailed. You have saved Artemis. But where is Annabeth?"

Thalia and I turned to each other. "She's the new lieutenant of the Hunt," we replied.

For a second, Chiron's face dropped. Then it went back to the nervous look. "Well at least the Hunters won't be burning down any more cabins."

I nodded. I don't know _why_, but I found myself thinking about Hoover Dam, and the odd mortal girl I'd run into there, Rachel Elizabeth Dare. I didn't know why, but her annoying comments kept coming back to me. _Do you always kill people when they blow their nose_? I was only alive because so many people had helped me, even a random mortal girl like that. I'd never even explained to her who I was.

"Luke is alive," I said. "Annabeth was right."

Chiron looked puzzled. "Alive? He should be, right?"

"Well... you see. I kind of rammed him off a cliff. But he's still alive," I replied.

Chiron's eyes seemed to widen and his face grow 50 years in two seconds. "No. It cannot be."

"Chiron?" Thalia asked. "Are you alright?"

Chiron looked up. "If the final battle does come when Percy is sixteen, we only have two more years to figure something out."

"That's plenty of time," I said.

Chiron's expression was gloomy. Sitting by the fire in his wheelchair, he looked really old. I mean... he _was_really old, but he usually didn't look like it.

"Two years may seem like a long time," he said. "But it is the blink of an eye. I still hope you are not the child of the prophecy. Nor Thalia if you pass, but if either of you are, then the second Titan war is almost upon us. Kronos' first strike will be here."

Clarisse seemed to shrink in her chair a little bit.

"How do you know?" I asked. "Why would he care about camp?"

"Because the gods use heroes as their tools," Chiron said simply. "Destroy the tools, and the gods will be crippled. Luke's forces will come here. Mortal, demigod, monstrous... We must be prepared. Clarisse's news may give us a clue as to how they will attack, but-"

There was a knock on the door, and Nico di Angelo came huffing into the parlor, his cheeks bright red from the cold.

He was smiling, but he looked around anxiously. "Hey! Where's... where's my sister?"

Dead silence. I stared at Chiron. I couldn't believe nobody had told him yet. And then I realized why. They'd been waiting for us to appear, to tell Nico in person.

That was the last thing I wanted to do. But I owed it to Bianca.

"Hey, Nico." I got up from my comfortable chair. "Let's take a walk, okay? We need to talk. Thalia come with us."

When we got out, I kept talking, trying to explain how it had happened and how Bianca had sacrificed herself to save the quest. But I felt like I was only making things worse.

"She wanted you to have this." I brought out the little god figurine Bianca had found in the junkyard. Nico held it in his palm and stared at it.

We were standing at the dining pavilion, just where we'd last spoken before I went on the quest. The wind was bitter cold, even with the camp's magical weather protection. Snow fell lightly against the marble steps. I figured outside the camp borders, there must be a blizzard happening.

"I'm sorry, Nico," Thalia said.

Nico looked up at me, "You promised you would protect her."

He might as well have stabbed me with a rusty dagger. It would've hurt less than reminding me of my promise.

"Nico," Thalia said, trying to calm him down. "Percy tried, but Bianca ran off without listening to him. I heard him say no and saw him chase Bianca, but it was useless. Bianca was much faster than him."

"You promised though."

He stared at me, his eyes rimmed with red and full of sadness. He closed his small fist around the god statue.

His voice broke as he spoke. "My nightmares were right."

"Wait. What nightmares?"

He dropped the god statue to the ground. It slid across the icy marble.

"She might be alive," I said desperately. "I don't know for sure-"

"She's dead." He closed his eyes. His body was slouched in sorrow and sadness. "I should've known it earlier. She's in the Fields of Asphodel, standing before the judges right now, being evaluated. I can feel it."

"What do you mean, you can feel it?"

Before he could answer, I heard a new sound behind me. A hissing, clattering noise I recognized all too well.

I drew my sword and Nico gasped. I whirled and found myself facing four skeleton warriors. They grinned fleshless grins and advanced with swords drawn. I wasn't sure how they'd made it inside the camp, but it didn't matter. I'd never get help in time.

"What are these... these things?" Nico exclaimed. He glared at me. "Are you trying to kill me?"

"No!" Thalia said. "These skeletons have been following us. They're trying to kill Percy. Not you."

The first skeleton charged. I knocked aside its blade, but the other three kept coming. I sliced one in half, but immediately it began to knit back together. I knocked another's head off but it just kept fighting.

"Run, Nico!" I yelled. "Get help!"

Nico just stood there, seemingly fascinated by the skeletons.

Thalia jumped into the fray, but they wouldn't die. We slashed, whirled, blocked, jabbed, but they just kept advancing. It was only a matter of seconds before the zombies overpowered us.

"Go away!" Nico shouted.

The ground rumbled beneath me. The skeletons froze. I rolled out of the way just as a crack opened at the feet of the four warriors. The ground ripped apart like a snapping mouth. Flames erupted from the fissure, and the earth swallowed the skeletons in one loud _CRUNCH_!

Silence.

In the place where the skeletons had stood, a twenty-foot-long scar wove across the marble floor of the pavilion. Otherwise there was no sign of the warriors.

Awestruck, Thalia and I looked to Nico. "How did you-"

"I don't know," he said.

"Come on, Nico. We gotta get you back to camp," I said.

He shook his head. "I'm sorry, Percy, Thalia. But being here brings too many painful memories and I'm going to go get Bianca back from the dead."

"How are you supposed to do that?" Thalia asked.

Before he ran off, he said. "I'm a son of Hades."

He sprinted down into the forest. Thalia and I tried to follow, but I tripped on something and fell to the icy steps. When I got up, I noticed what I'd slipped on.

I picked up the god statue Bianca had retrieved from the junkyard for Nico. _They only statue he didn't have_, she'd said. A last gift from his sister.

I stared at it with dread, because now I understood why the face looked familiar. I'd seen it before. I held it in front of Thalia's face so she could get a good look at it.

As she gasped, I said, "It's Hades, Lord of the Dead."

Grover helped us search the woods for hours, but there was no sign of Nico di Angelo.

"We have to tell Chiron," Grover said, out of breath.

"No," I said.

He stared at me. "Um, what do you mean... no?"

"We can't let anyone know. I don't think anyone realizes that Nico is a son of Hades."

Grover's eyes widened. "That explains how Bianca could kill the skeleton's!"

I nodded. Thalia said, "But the difference about Nico is that he and Bianca have been out of commission for a long time, since even before World War II."

"The Lotus Casino," I nodded.

Grover said, "So they were stuck there for decades. They were born before the oath was made."

"How do we keep Nico a secret from everyone?" Thalia asked.

"That's simple. Don't bring him back to camp. Only his father will know of Nico's parentage," I said.

"How are we supposed to keep him from Kronos' side?" asked Grover.

My face was grim. "We have to find him, and make sure he stays near Lord Hades' domain, aka his palace and Elysium."

"So basically, away from Tartarus," said Thalia.

I nodded.

"But this is a possibility that Nico could be the child of the prophecy. If you guys somehow stop aging or die or something, Nico could be-"

"No," I said. "I choose the prophecy. It will be about me."

"Why are you saying that?" Thalia said. "You want to be responsible for the whole world?"

It was the last thing I wanted, but I didn't say that. I knew I had to step up and claim it.

"I can't let Nico be in any more danger," I said. "I owe that much to his sister. I... let them both down. I'm not going to let that poor kid suffer any more. I also have to protect you from danger, Thalia."

"I can fight on my own," she said.

"It's not that..." I couldn't find the right words for it. I just had this feeling that I needed to protect Thalia to the best of my abilities, even if it included dying on my sixteenth birthday. "I just have to."

Thalia smiled at me gratefully. Grover said. "We need to find him fast. If Luke gets hold of him-"

"Luke won't," I said. "I'll make sure he's got other things to worry about. Namely, me."

Thalia and I told Chiron about the story of Nico's disappearance. I don't think he believed us though, but in the end, he accepted it. Unfortunately, Nico wasn't the first half-blood to disappear.

"So young," Chiron sighed, his hands on the rail of the front porch. "Alas, I hope he was eaten by monsters. Much better than being recruited into the Titans' army."

That idea made me really uneasy. I almost changed my mind about telling Chiron, but I didn't.

"You really think the first attack will be here?" I asked.

Chiron stared at the snow falling on the hills. I could see smoke from the dragon guardian at the pine tree, the glitter of the distant Fleece.

"It will not be until summer, at least," Chiron said. This winter will be hard… the hardest for many centuries. It's best that you go home to the city, Percy; try to keep your mind on school. And rest. You will need rest."

I looked at Thalia. "What about you?"

Thalia thought about it for a moment. "I'd love to meet your mom's boyfriend and see your mom again. I don't really have anywhere to go other than that."

"You could stay at camp," I suggested.

She shook her head. "Like Chiron said, I need rest and maybe school will take my mind off of things. You know, get into fights with bullies."

We grinned at each other.

Chiron was about to speak when Grover, who stumbled out of the Big House, tripped over tin cans. His face was haggard and pale, like he'd seen a specter.

"He spoke," Grover cried.

"Calm down, my young satyr," Chiron said, frowning. "What is the matter?"

"I... I was playing music in the parlor," he stammered, "and drinking coffee. Lots and lots of coffee! And he spoke in my mind!"

Thalia and I stared at him. "No way," we said.

Grover nodded. "Pan! The Lord of the Wild himself. I heard him! I have to... I have to find a suitcase."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said. "What did he say?"

Grover stared at me. "Just three words. He said, _'I await you...'_"

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**

**Go to The SilverEyed Angel's page to ask about the continuation of the Pertemis story.**


	21. Thalia's Birthday

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians' quotes and plot line. I do not own any of the Percy Jackson and the Olympians characters. I am not Rick Riordan.**

**This is my third FanFic although my first one got reported for MST and the second one I put up for adoption.**

**The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while I complete this story.**

**Go to The SilverEyed Angel's page to ask about the continuation of the Pertemis story.**

**Thanks for reading my story and if you have any comments or suggestions, review or private message me. If you do not like Perlia do not flame by sending me messages saying you don't like Perlia and random stuff like that.**

**Just in case you were wondering, the length of an update is according to the length of the chapters in the real book.**

**Apologies if there are any grammar mistakes out there that make the story unclear.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**A HEADS UP: There will be a Battle of the Labyrinth Perlia story coming out soon. "Brace yourself."**

Chapter 21: Thalia's Birthday

**Thalia's POV**

The next day, Percy and I packed up. Chiron went out the previous night to use the Mist saying that Sally Jackson was my guardian. At least he didn't make so that I was adopted because it would be weird to date your brother. Well... we weren't dating yet, but I hoped that we would soon.

"You ready?" he asked.

I nodded. We walked across the boundary of Camp Half-Blood and into the mortal world. Argus honked from the bottom of Half-Blood Hill.

"Hold on Argus. We're coming!" Percy yelled.

Chiron was standing behind us. "Good luck you two. I hope Sally can control your behaviors. I wouldn't want her apartment to be struck by lightning and have all of the plumbing pipes broken."

We smiled sheepishly.

"I will see you in the summer," Chiron said and waved goodbye.

"You too Chiron," I replied.

Percy smiled. "Make sure to train the demigods well. Have them prepared. We'll be back to kick Kronos' army back to dust."

Chiron looked a little doubtful. "I hope that there is not an entrance to the Labyrinth inside of camp."

"Labyrinth?" we asked.

"Never mind. Focus on your studies. Good luck."

We shrugged it off and raced down the hill. Obviously, I beat Percy because he's a slow-poke.

"You're so slow," I taunted.

"Shut up," he blushed.

I laughed and waved one last time to the centaur that was standing on top of Half-Blood Hill. Percy waved as well. We got into the car and started driving off to Percy's mom's apartment. When Chiron disappeared from sight, I sighed and slumped into my seat.

"You ready to meet Mr. Blowfish?" Percy asked.

"I thought you said you wouldn't call him Mr. Blowfish?"

"Not to his face."

"So... you ready for school?" I asked.

"Nah. I just hope I don't blow MS-54 up," he said.

I laughed. After that, we rode the rest of the ride in silence. There wasn't really much to talk about because we've practically spent the entirety of the previous week together. We got to the bus stop that Argus always drops quest members off at.

We walked the rest of the way to Sally's house. It wasn't too far, but it wasn't too close. As we walked, he told me the story of his childhood. I only heard how Gabe had been killed, but I never heard the true atrocities of the horrible man.

"...And then, he punched me because I refused to pay for his poker game," he said.

I growled.

Percy laughed, "Nice to know you're so protective over me."

"It's just... that cruel man. He deserved to be tortured. Being turned to stone is pretty much painless. He should've been chained up in an alley and beat up with spiked cuffs," I snarled.

"It's okay. I'm pretty sure he's in the Fields of Punishment right now," he said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

It was kind of awkward considering I was taller than him by an inch, but I liked it.

We reached Sally's apartment building in about ten minutes. We entered the front of the building and got comforted by the warm heat inside.

"Oh, shit," Percy said, fumbling with his pockets. "I forgot to bring the keys to the house. Oh well, we can ring the doorbell."

We walked up the steps and to the door of Sally's apartment. Percy rang the doorbell. I heard muffled voices inside:

"Who could that be?" Mr. Blofis said.

"I don't know?" Percy's mom said.

I heard the sound of footsteps. "Maybe-" Ms. Jackson opened the door and stopped in shock. Then she exclaimed. "Percy! Thalia!"

"Hey mom," Percy said as he hugged her.

"Hi, Ms. Jackson," I said. Although in my thoughts I call her Sally, out loud I always call her Ms. Jackson.

Sally hugged me. "Oh, Thalia. Don't call me Ms. Jackson. It sounds too formal. Call me Sally."

"Okay, Sally."

Mr. Blofis appeared behind Sally. "Hello, Percy, pleased to meet you. I'm Paul Blofis. You can call me Paul." He turned to me. "And who is this?"

"I'm Thalia," I replied.

"Do you know your last name?" he asked.

My face darkened a little. Percy answered for me. "She does, but she prefers not to use it as it reminds her of her mother who treated her very poorly."

"Oh, sorry Thalia. I didn't mean to be rude in any way," Paul said.

"No problem," I responded.

"So," Sally said. "You're back for Christmas early. That's great!"

Percy whispered something to his mom. "Oh! Yes!" She turned to Paul. "You know how you were offering to enroll Percy at Goode. Well, Thalia slipped my mind at the time. I'm her guardian because her mother died a couple years ago. Would you mind enrolling Thalia as well?"

"That shouldn't be a problem," he said.

"Alright," Sally said. "Percy, Thalia. Why don't you go unpack?"

We nodded and went to the guest room.

"Well... here's your room for anytime you're in the mortal world," Percy said.

It was a plain room with a double bed in the right hand corner.

"I can decorate this room any way I want, right?" I asked.

"Yup. Unless it blows up the house," he said.

Percy left the room and went to his own. I started to unpack my things and put them where I pleased. I didn't have too many things as I went to a boarding school that had a uniform that had to be worn every day. As much as I hated it, I needed to go shopping.

I had a few posters of bands like Green Day on the walls and I had a few clothes. I had one leather jacket, beside the one I was wearing, a couple dark blue or black ripped jeans, and some black and white Green Day shirts. If you didn't guess already, Green Day is my favorite band.

I went to the bathroom to see how I looked. Spiky black hair, although it grew so that some hair dropped below my shoulders, electric blue eyes, and black eyeliner. I looked like a punk chick. I frowned. That'll affect my reputation at school. Maybe I should get some new clothing.

As I walked out of the bathroom, I bumped into Percy.

"Oh, hey," I said.

"Hey," he said back. "How do you like it here?"

"It's good so far. I think I need to get some new clothing though."

Percy looked thoughtful for a moment. "How about... keep the leather jacket, and jeans, but get rid of the eyeliner."

I frowned. "What's that supposed to do?"

He shrugged. "I dunno. Just try it."

I went back to the washroom and rinsed my face with water. The eyeliner was gone, but I couldn't really tell the difference.

As I walked out, I heard Percy say from the kitchen, "Hurry. She'll be done any minute!"

I walked toward the kitchen when a wonderful smell reached my nostrils. They smelt like chocolate chip cookies. I got closer and heard Percy say again, "Phew. That's done. Let me get Thalia."

I was still stunned by the wonderful smell of the cookies that I didn't move. Percy went around the corner and bumped into me.

"Whoa!" he said.

"Hi," I replied. "What's that wonderful smell?"

He grinned. "Come on."

He led me to the dining room where a couple of books had been moved to the side. Percy made me sit down and asked me to wait a moment. He went into the kitchen and Sally and Paul came out.

"Hey, Thalia. You didn't tell me your birthday was today," Sally said as she and Paul sat down.

I was shocked for a second. I didn't tell anyone my birthday. The only people who knew were Chiron, Percy, Annabeth, Grover and the gods. _Percy!_I snapped my head up to see Percy carrying a plate of those delicious smelling cookies. When he set them down, I frowned.

"What's wrong?" Percy asked, clearly seeing my frown.

"They're blue."

"Try it."

I did and it felt like heaven. The chips melted slowly in my mouth and the cookies were buttery and hot. Despite the weird color, it tasted really good.

"Wow. This is really good," I told Sally. "Thanks."

"Oh, we're not done yet," Percy said.

He brought out a cupcake and one candle. He lit the candle on fire, but burned himself in the process.

"Ahh! Get me water!" he yelped.

He ran to the kitchen and turned the sink on. I heard his sigh of relief. While he was doing that, I was laughing my ass off. Annabeth was totally right. He _is_a Seaweed Brain... or as I like to say: Kelp Head.

When he got back, he sang happy birthday to me with Sally and Paul. It was nice. I never celebrated my birthday before... mainly because with Annabeth and Luke, we never had anything. We just sat around the fire and sang happy birthday.

Now, with the cupcake and cookies, it felt nice to be appreciated.

We finished the cookies and cupcakes fairly quickly. It was mainly Percy though. He ate even more than Grover did when he was nervous. And _that's_saying something!

By 9:00 pm, Paul had to go.

"I'd better be leaving now," he said, looking down at his watch. "It is nice meeting you Percy. You too Thalia."

"Bye, Paul," Percy waved.

"Bye."

Sally and Paul hugged one last time before he departed. After he left, Sally sighed.

"Alright, you two. You're free to do anything you want as long as it doesn't burn down the house."

"Thanks mom," Percy said.

He left to his room. I didn't know what to do, so I stood on the balcony, admiring the moon. Hopefully Annabeth is doing alright with the Hunters. The moon shined a little brighter for a second, as if Annabeth and Artemis heard me.

The door to the balcony slid open behind me. I turned around and saw Percy. He was also staring up into the sky.

"It's too bad Manhattan is like this," Percy sighed.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"You can't see Zoe. There's too much light pollution."

I nodded with a sigh. "Yeah."

We stood there admiring the moon for two minutes before Percy broke the silence.

"I still kind of wish we were at camp. I mean... I love my mom, but it would've been better to do this at camp."

"Celebrate my birthday?" I asked. "Here is much better. I got your mom's wonderful cookies."

"That's not the problem," he replied.

"So then what is?"

"Well...um... I was going to ask-"

"Just spit it out already," I told him.

He took a deep breath. "I..." He trailed off. I was laughing at him because he looked really nervous.

He scowled at me. "You're not making this very easy."

"Since when have I made things easy for you?"

"Don't make me remind you of your fear," he said.

"You can't use that against me. We're only two floors up. I'm only mildly nauseous from here."

We stared at each other once again. I got lost in his eyes... once again.

"I want to kiss you again," I muttered quietly. "Those beautiful lips-"

"What?" Percy asked, snapping out of his trance. "What did you say?"

"Um... nothing," I stuttered. "Well... the moon is beautiful right now. It'd be perfect if we were sitting on a dock or something, watching the moon. How do you think Annabeth is doing? Is she being-"

I was cut off by Percy. Again, he kissed me. After a split-second of shock, I kissed back. Percy had put his hands on my waist and held me close. I put my hands in his hair and pushed his head closer to mine, enjoying the kiss.

After half of a minute, we broke apart. I stared into his eyes, feeling love for the first time. Our foreheads were connected, my hands behind his head, and his on my waist. He was shorter now, but I knew that he would grow taller, and this would become even better.

"Thalia Grace," he said. Although I hated my last name, it sounded nice coming from Percy. "Would you like to be my girlfriend?"

My mouth broke into a smile. "Yes!" I pecked him on the lips.

We held hands and looked up into the bright night sky. Although there was a lot of light pollution, the constellation of Zoe appeared in the sky. And it seemed like she was smiling.

We wouldn't find out until later, but Sally was watching from inside the apartment, smiling with happiness.

Thunder grumbled in the sky, but Percy didn't care. He held onto me like I was his lifeline.

This was the best birthday, I could have ever wished for.

**Hopefully you enjoyed this. Please review or private message me for suggestions and opinions.**

**SharkAttack719 out. :)**

**WARNING: The Percy/Zoe story will be postponed for a while while I complete this story.**

**Check out my other stories. I recommend not viewing the 'Flash to the Past: Reading the Titan's Curse' one because it is discontinued.**

**Go to The SilverEyed Angel's page to ask about the continuation of the Pertemis story.**


	22. Next Story is Up

**Hey guys and gals,**

**I just wanted to let you guys know that the second story of the Perlia series is up. ****The Battle of the Labyrinth: Perlia.**** If you liked this story, please check the next one out. Also, I just wanted to let you know, a Percy/Zoe story will be coming out on this page sometime in the next couple of months. I'm working on the details now, but I will eventually have a poll up for options to choose which plot you want for that story. Anyway, read my next story and... I hope you enjoy it.**

**With best regards,  
SharkAttack719**


End file.
